Changing regulatory environment for small-medium size enterprises and their performance in Ghana.
Abstract
The study discusses the influence that public regulators and self-regulatory agencies have had on the performance of SMEs in the last decade. It is recognised that the experimentation with different modes of regulation in such areas as taxes, production, standards, labour laws, location of firms and prices will have some impact on the production methods that firms choose. The study also addresses the evolution of regulatory environment in Ghana as well as identifies how the regulatory choices made by firms affect their performance. In section 2 the paper discusses the scope of SME activity in Ghana. This is followed with a presentation in section 3 of the institutional developments and the evolution of regulatory agencies. Here the fact is emphasized that most of the institutional developments have addressed largely the concerns of larger enterprises and these have been usually related to the issues of either attracting investments or promoting the payment of taxes. Section 4 focuses on recent changes in the regulatory environment where considerable self-regulation has emerged to complement state regulation. Section 5 presents findings on how small enterprises have responded to the new institutional developments in terms of organization and performance.
Citation
Manchester, UK, CRC Working Paper, No. 103, 28 pp.
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