Methodological issues in the evaluation of small business development policies and programmes

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Evaluating small business development policies and programmes is a methodologicallydifficult task. A wide range of role players in the economy - government departmentsand agencies, corporations, international donors, and non-governmental organisations -invest resources of sizeable magnitude annually in promoting small business. Thisinvestment is often justified on the basis of the importance of small business incontributing to the attainment of a range of socio-economic objectives such as jobcreation, addressing economic inequity among various population groups, stimulatingcompetition in the economy, and enhancing economic growth. With the increase in themagnitude of public investment in small business development, and increasingcompetition for the same resources from other worthwhile interventions, the pressure forpublic accountability and the need to demonstrate effectiveness of policies andprogrammes has increased. Programme sponsors are increasingly requiring that thosereceiving public funds for small business development projects should ensure effectivemonitoring and evaluation of their programmes in order to ensure that there is a soundinformation base to provide the necessary policy and programme feedback.The question, however, is to what extent small business policies and programmes aresuccessful in ensuring the attainment of their objectives. To what degree can any changesat the level of the enterprise and its immediate environment be realistically attributed tothe effectiveness of policies and programmes?Can ongoing investment In small business development be justified in the face ofcompeting demands for the same resources from other worthwhile and perhaps morepressing causes? How efficient is a particular policy or programme in terms of its cost inrelation to other policy or programme alternatives? These and more are questions facingevaluators of small business development policies and programmes. This thesis showsthat the task facing these evaluators is not an easy one, due to methodologicalcomplexities encountered in attempting to answer these questions.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University