Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

Most firms are informal throughout the developing world; and most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (60-80%) do not register with tax authorities, lowering the tax base. This remains a persistent phenomenon despite the numerous attempts made to encourage registration.

Using the data enumerated from 501 randomly-sampled micro-entrepreneurs, and several case studies, interviews, and focus groups discussions across three ecological belts in Nepal, this study revealed a significant increase in profit, sales and assets of microenterprises over the period, and ident

Kapteyn and Wah (2016) conducted a field survey of owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Yangon, Myanmar to investigate obstacles to business development in the region. The analysis focuses on access to credit, public services, and electricity.

This paper, published in World Development reviews competing theories about the causes of informality in developing countries and uses new data to determine which theory best explains the persistence and scale of Indonesia’s informal sector.