► Innovation capacity and developed innovations in small enterprises are examined. ► Innovation patterns in manufacturing and service industries are compared. ► Results show slight differences ...between the manufacturing and service industries. ► Findings indicate significant differences across the sectors within these industries. ► Characteristics of small enterprises as innovators across the sectors are provided.
This paper explores what kinds of innovations have been developed in small manufacturing and service enterprises and what has been the degree of innovation capacity that small enterprises possess. In addition, it compares what differences there are across the manufacturing and service sectors. The empirical evidence is based on quantitative data gathered through an email questionnaire which yielded 708 qualified responses from the representatives of Finnish small enterprises with fewer than 50 employees. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. The evidence displays a rich diversity of innovation patterns in small enterprises. The empirical evidence demonstrates only slight differences between the manufacturing and service industries while it indicates significant differences across the sectors within these industries. The value of the present study lies in the better understanding of innovation development in small enterprises. The rich diversity of innovation patterns in small enterprises suggests that diversity should also direct the policies aiming at supporting innovation development in the context of small business. Finally, applying these results will provide more specific questions for studying the nature of innovation development in small enterprises.
Evidence exist that most small ventures fail at developing a successful business model (BM) to enhance their technological capability. Besides, the studies that were undertaken in low-income ...countries also have no capacity to demonstrate the processes in the articulation of a BM that failed to consider the opportunities of technology entrepreneurship. Therefore, this study analyzes the linkage between technology entrepreneurship and the BM toward small venture growth. To achieve this, data were collected using a questionnaire from 335 small manufacturing enterprises selected from Addis Ababa. The result indicates that BM influences venture's growth indirectly through technology entrepreneurship. To the small businesses facing the problems of resource scarcity and poor strategy development, designing appropriate BM is an opportunity and can be used as an input to the adoption of technology entrepreneurship. Besides, by capturing values from combining the factors of production and technology entrepreneurship, the BM organizes and orchestrates the incumbent assets and other resources that make enterprises grow more than their counterparts. As a result, small enterprises should try to exploit existing technological opportunities by developing technology-oriented BM and integrating with technology entrepreneurship.
This paper attempts to classify major errors affecting the security of information resources made by employees. Human factors that can be a direct cause of these errors were enumerated. The empirical ...part presents surveys conducted among small businesses in 2019 and 2022 related to the human factors discussed in the theoretical part. The study compared the results obtained before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. A discussion related to the factors and the results was presented.
The main aim of the present research, conducted twice on a group of 287 small businesses in Poland, was to show changes in attitudes toward the security of intangible resources and how the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the way of thinking of people responsible for information security in terms of behavioral security.
We analyze the risk attitude of women and men entrepreneurs in the micro and small enterprises (MSEs) and investigate the factors that influence the risk attitude of MSE owners. The empirical ...analysis of the study consists of two parts. First, we use a moment-based approach to estimate the risk preferences of male and female entrepreneurs. Second, we estimate a regression model to understand the correlates of risk attitude and decompose the gender difference in risk aversion using the Oaxaca-Blinder technique. The results indicate that MSE entrepreneurs are risk-averse, with a relative risk premium of 1.5%. We also find that females are slightly more risk-averse than male entrepreneurs. Our regression estimates show that entrepreneurs’ risk attitude is significantly correlated with the age and experience of the entrepreneur, marital status, education level and financial literacy, wealth, sector, and business form. Furthermore, the predictor variables significantly explain the gender difference in risk aversion, while the unexplained component is insignificant. This suggests that the gender difference in risk aversion is due to disparities in socioeconomic factors than a biological difference in risk preference.
Globalization processes around the world affect the activities of economic entities, which in turn leads to changes in their accounting and taxation systems. The article is devoted to the study of ...the peculiarities of the application of the simplified system of accounting and taxation of agrarian businesses of small businesses in order to identify problematic aspects and areas of state support for their functioning in the context of European integration. A study of the main aspects of the Association Agreement between Ukraine, on the one hand, and the European Union, the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, on the other hand, in terms of accounting and taxation. It is determined that the implementation of domestic legislation to the regulations of the European Union (directives) is tangible for both businesses and individuals. Analytical data on the activities of small busi-nesses in Ukraine, including agricultural enterprises, are presented. The results of the analysis show a decrease in the number of small enterprises for the period 2015-2019. At the same time, the volumes of produced and sold products of small businesses and micro-enterprises are growing, which testifies to the importance of the activities of these businesses. It is determined that the conditions of production and economic activity of business entities are accompanied by constant changes in current legislation, which causes uncertainty in their position in the competitive environment, leads to the risk of transactions and increased tax burden, and as a result – business closure or withdrawal in the shadows. "The current systems of taxation of small businesses are studied and their advantages and disadvantages are identified. The main criteria for assigning business entities to the group of small businesses in the agricultural sector, taking into account the Tax and Commercial Codes of Ukraine, as well as the provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On Accounting and Financial Reporting in Ukraine". The system of taxation and accounting of small agricultural enterprises is studied. It was found that the current situation in agriculture indicates the shortcomings and lack of efficiency of the tax system, which requires scientific and methodological support for a consistent and stable tax policy for this category of taxpayers, the use of tax incentives for small businesses, improving the simplified taxation of small businesses . Examining the organization of accounting for small businesses in the context of European integration, the framework of the feasibility of changes in the accounting system. It is noted that a certain problem is the inconsistency of financial and tax accounting for the formation of a harmonized information product for different groups of users. The opinion is expressed that the fiscal orientation of accounting should be reoriented to the needs of the management system and high-quality information support of stakeholders, including foreign investors. It is noted that the legislation on ac-counting and taxation systems, opening and registration of small and micro enterprises needs to be changed. In order to properly support the development of small business, it is proposed to create favorable conditions for taxation and a clear accounting system: providing information and financial support for the process of business organization and the transition to international accounting standards; organization of the system of training of entrepreneurs and retraining of accountants; streamlining mechanisms to protect the rights of small businesses.
Governments seek to reduce pervasive firm informality for multiple reasons: taxes, firm growth, rule of law, and information. We conducted a randomized experiment in Malawi to test three alternatives ...to achieving these goals: a) helping firms obtain a business registration certificate that offers formal market access but imposes no tax obligations; b) helping firms obtain both business and tax registration; and c) supplementing business registration with a bank information session. We find incredibly high demand for obtaining a formal status that is separate from tax obligations, and very low take-up of tax registration. Business registration alone has no impact on formal market access or firm performance. However, combining registration assistance with the bank information session increases firm sales by 20 percent and profits by 15 percent. The results highlight the advantages of separating business and tax registration, but also the need to help firms benefit from their new formal status.
•Governments in developing countries face difficulties in getting firms to formalize.•Working with the government of Malawi we offered firms costless business registration.•Take up for business registration was high, but not for tax registration.•Only when registration was combined with business bank accounts did profits increase.•Unlike for many other firm interventions, this benefitted men and women equally.
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