Evaluating Enterprise Policy Interventions in Africa: A Critical Review of Ghanaian Small Business Support Services

Abstract

Enterprise policies play a central role in economic development across Africa, but more effective, evidence-based policy evaluation is required to inform future interventions. The paper makes a contribution to: (i) filling this gap in our understanding; (ii) developing more rigorous and appropriate evaluation methodologies. The issues are examined through an empirical study into non-use of small business support services in Ghana. Survey evidence from 253 owner-managers is complemented by interviews with owner-managers and service providers. It concludes that policy evaluation in Sub-Saharan Africa would benefit from multi-method approaches to address limitations in official datasets and to facilitate more indepth understanding.2

The Impact of FDI Inflow on Domestic Firms’ Uptake of CSR Activities: The Moderating Effects of Host Institutions

“…Firm size was measured in this study in terms of the number of employees as 1 = small firms (0–20 employees), 2 = medium firms (21–100 employees), and 3 = large firms (more than 100 employees). Second, the conditions, dynamics, and nature of different businesses and industries have been suggested to influence firm activity and performance differently (Obeng & Blundel, ; Obeng, Robson, & Haugh, ). We therefore controlled for the nature of the business as 1 = manufacturer and 2 = service provider.…”

Entrepreneurial orientation in dynamic environments

“…Whiles SME managers seek advice from networks, our study is not concerned with this type advice. We are concerned with advice received from consultants/government agencies (Obeng and Blundel, 2015). The literature on extra-organizational advice argues that when CEOs perceive the environment to be in constant flux, they tend to dwell on external sources of advice to keep to the latest developments in the industry (e.g., Heyden, et al, 2013).…”

“…188). For example, in many developing economies, knowledge from external sources provides decisions-makers with assessments of best practices, market knowledge, and specialized expert analysis (e.g., Obeng and Blundel, 2015). Specifically, developing economies experience massive information asymmetry due to high institutional and infrastructural underdevelopment (Boso et al, 2013) and this has presented substantial challenges for SMEs to leverage their capabilities for growth (Li et al, 2008).…”

“…In particular, the formal institutions supporting free markets in developing economies are weak and still evolving (Wright et al, 2005). In such a context, extra organizational advice is seen as filling the institutional void and facilitate the implementation of entrepreneurial-oriented behaviors (Obeng and Blundel, 2015;Robson, Wijbenga, and Parker, 2009). Yet, scholarly literature is unclear about the role of extra-organizational advice in enhancing the influence of EO on performance.…”

Government and SMEs in the Maldives and Mauritius

“…Research on the role of Government in Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) development in developing countries has increased significantly over the last decade (see for example Chen et al;Doh and Kim, 2014;Atherton and Smallbone, 2013;Obeng and Blundel, 2013;Senik et al;. There is growing acknowledgement that SMEs in these contexts are very heterogeneous and require policies that can cater for an uneven economic base.…”