Title: The need to improve the South African government's SME intervention policies: some empirical evidence

Authors: Rob Smorfitt, Charles O’Neill

Addresses: University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa. ' British University in Egypt, El Sherouk City, Suez Desert Road, Postal No. 11837, P.O. Box 43, Egypt

Abstract: This paper will initially provide an overview of intervention policies used by governments in developed and developing countries to stimulate the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This general overview will be followed by a review of the literature on the South African government|s intervention policies in particular, and comparison made to international intervention trends. The literature review will be followed by an explanation of the research methodology to empirically determine the need for changes to improve the intervention policies of the South African government. In the final instance the findings, recommendations on how to improve the intervention policies, limitations and suggestions for further research will be presented.

Keywords: intervention policies; functional interventions; selective interventions; SMEs; small and medium-sized enterprises; continuum of entrepreneurship; critical success factors; government intervention; South Africa; SME support.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEBR.2011.042317

International Journal of Economics and Business Research, 2011 Vol.3 No.5, pp.543 - 556

Published online: 22 Apr 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article