Water, Productivity, Efficiency, Privatization, Price cap regulation, Environmental qualify, D24, L95, L33, L51,

Introduction The provision of advisory support to small firms is almost ubiquitous in OECD countries (OECD, 2002), although publicly supported advisory services are organised in different ways and are justified on slightly different grounds (Mole and Bramley, 2006). Debates are also ongoing concerning the effectiveness of publicly supported advisory services and the precise role that publicly funded advisers should take (Hjalmarrsson and Johansson, 2003; Keogh and Mole, 2005). In England publicly supported advisory services are organised, in the main, through the Business Link (BL) network, which is the focus of this study. BL is England's version of the`onestop-shop' approach to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The BL model was first outlined in government policy statements in the late 1980s, was finalised in 1992, and has undergone many transformations since (Roper and Hart, 2005). We consider two specific questions: what sort of companies receive advisory

Abstract:In England, publicly supported advisory services for small firms are organised primarily through the Business Link (BL) network. Based on the programme theory underlying this business support services we develop four propositions and test these empirically using data from a new survey of over 3,000 English small firms. Our empirical results provide a broad validation of the programme theory underlying BL assistance for small firms in England during 2003, and more limited support for its effectiveness. More specifically, we find strong support for the value of BL operators maintaining a high profile as a way of boosting take-up. We also find some support for the approach to market segmentation adopted by BL allowing more intensive assistance to be targeted on younger firms and those with limited liability status. In terms of the outcomes of BL support, and allowing for issues of sample selection, we find no significant effects on growth from 'other' assistance but do find positive and significant employment growth effects from intensive assistance. This provides partial support for the programme theory assertion that BL support will lead to improvements in business growth performance and stronger support for the proposition that there would be differential outcomes from intensive and other assistance. The positive employment growth outcomes identified here from intensive assistance, even allowing for sample selection, suggest something of an improvement in the effectiveness of the BL network since the late 1990s.

In the UK as in most other advanced economies significant advisory support is offered for start-up firms and SMEs. UK services for SMEs are provided by Business Links which structures its support into non-intensive -one off contacts providing information or adviceand more intensive support involving a diagnostic process and repeated interaction with firms. A key choice for managers of Business Links is resource allocation between these two types of service -i.e. should support be broader or deeper? Drawing on resource dependency theory which combines elements of structure and agency we develop a typology of intervention models for Business Links in the UK reflecting differences in the breadth and depth of the support provided. We then test the impact of these alternative intervention models on client companies using subjective assessments of impact by firms and econometric treatment models allowing for the potential for selection bias. Our analysis suggests two key empirical results. First, Business Links" choice of intervention model has a significant effect on outcomes, and secondly our results are consistent in emphasising the value of depth over breadth. The implication is that intensive assistance should perhaps be available to no more than 7-10 per cent of client firms and where additional resources are available these should be used to deepen the assistance provided rather than extend intensive assistance to a wider group of firms. This suggests that ideas such as mentoring that increase the deepening of advice may generate more positive effects than approaches that broaden advice such as an 'MOT for business'.

Islamic banking, International efficiency comparison, Output distance function, G21, D24, L1,