ADB–OECD Study on Enhancing Financial Accessibility for SMEs: Lessons from Recent Crises

During the era of global financial uncertainty, stable access to appropriate funding sources has been much harder for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The global financial crisis impacted SMEs and entrepreneurs disproportionately, exacerbating their traditional financing constraints. The financial conditions of many SMEs were weakened by the drop in demand for goods and services and the credit tightening. The sovereign debt crisis that hit several European countries contributed to further deterioration in bank lending activities, which negatively affected private sector development. The global regulatory response to financial crises, such as the Basel Capital Accord, while designed to reduce systemic risks may also constrain bank lending to SMEs. In particular, Basel III requires banks to have tighter risk management as well as greater capital and liquidity. Resulting asset preference and deleveraging of banks, particularly European banks with significant presence in Asia, could limit the availability of funding for SMEs in Asia and the Pacific. Lessons from the recent financial crises have motivated many countries to consider SME access to finance beyond conventional bank credit and to diversify their national financial system. Improving SME access to finance is a policy priority at the country and global level. Poor access to finance is a critical inhibiting factor to the survival and growth potential of SMEs. Financial inclusion is thus key to the development of the SME sector, which is a driver of job creation and social cohesion and takes a pivotal role in scaling up national economies. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have recognized that it is crucial to develop a comprehensive range of policy options on SME finance, including innovative financing models. With this in mind, sharing Asian and OECD experiences on SME financing would result in insightful discussions on improving SME access to finance at a time of global financial uncertainty. Based on intensive discussions in two workshops organized by ADB in Manila on 6–7 March 2013 and by OECD in Paris on 21 October 2013, the two organizations together compiled this study report on enhancing financial accessibility for SMEs, especially focusing on lessons from the past and recent crises in Asia and OECD countries. The report takes a comparative look at ADB and OECD experiences, and aims to identify promising policy solutions for creating an SME base that is resilient to crisis, from a viewpoint of access to finance, and which can help drive growth and development

Energy Conservation as Security

"Energy security" is usually defined as the guarantee of a stable and reliable supply of energy at reasonable prices. However, this definition is often misleading because it equates oil supply as the primary focus of a country's energy security considerations. As a developing country with a limited natural resource endowment China does not rely on oil alone. Instead China is one of the few economies in the world that still uses coal as one of its main sources of energy. Therefore, energy security in China is more comprehensive because it must consider the supply of coal, gas, electricity and nuclear energy along with oil imports

China's employment challenges and strategies after the WTO accession

Although China has made impressive progress in economicdevelopment and improving social well-being, it is facing many daunting challenges while transforming toward a knowledge and service-based economy and further opening up to international competition after its WTO accession in the context of knowledge revolution. One of the biggest challenges is how to create 100-300 million new jobs in the coming decade to absorb the millions of laid-offs, rural emigrants and newly added labor force. China has been successful in building high-tech parks and ICT industries, but they are limited in terms of employment generation, while most of the traditional labor-intensive industries are losing competitiveness due to low productivity. In order to combat the unprecedented employment challenge, China must implement a systemic and sustained strategy, which may consist of the following policy thrusts: encouraging the private sector; promoting small and medium enterprises; expanding the service sector; reforming the state-owned enterprises; strengthening the social security system; improving labor market flexibility; and establishing mass retraining programs.Public Health Promotion,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Health Monitoring&Evaluation

Small and Medium Enterprises in the Agriculture Value Chain: Opportunities and Recommendations

Authored in collaboration with Oxfam, this report analyzes the effectiveness of development programs in addressing the effectiveness of SME agricultural value chains, and dissect whether these interventions would be Social Enterprises (SEs) in agriculture in Asia. The paper makes recommendations for donors and development agencies that seek to support SEs in agriculture

European experience and Ukrainian realities in the policy of financial support entrepreneurial sector

Aim/purpose – We want to provide recommendations to bridge the gap in access to financing of the entrepreneurial sector in Ukraine based on the analysis of European experience, EBF approaches, financial funds for SMEs and the current state of the credit market in Ukraine. Design/methodology/approach – We used the general scientific methods of knowledge, conceptual tenets of the theory of market economy, abstract logical analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, historical (to determine the nature and causes of bank investment in SMEs, refine categories and terms); formalization, systems analysis (to determine factors of investment banking, institutional and legal environment); statistical, retrospective analysis. The results of surveys conducted by the EBF on the issues of support and development of SMEs are used, own research of 120 Ukrainian SMEs, which was conducted during the period from January to July 2016. The nature of the research questions was reinforced by the decision to survey only SMEs. Independent reporting (from entrepreneurs or CEOs) was used to account for both business activity and the external sources of information. Findings – Policy initiatives should primarily be developed at the national level in the field of lending to SMEs based on the European experience and Ukrainian realities; it is necessary to develop an understanding of the need for access to certain types of information; SMEs are the main providers and the most valuable source of credit information. Research implications/limitations – When using the methods of calculation creditworthiness perhaps to take into account the methods for assessing the quality of management, the image of the enterprise, ISO certificates. Originality/value/contribution – Based on the cross-country comparison of the EU and Ukraine, highlight the necessity of focusing on some legal unification of SME lending procedures for the development of a culture of sustainable entrepreneurship on the European continent

Possible Russian development paths and their implications for Europe: some back-of-the-envelope musings

This chapter examines the potential implications for the European Union and for EU-Russian relations of recent developments in Russian economic policy. Its principal argument may be stated simply. A number of changes in Russian economic policy during 2003–05 augur ill for both the further growth of its core resource-exporting sectors (especially oil and gas) and the further diversification of its production and export structure. On both counts, this is bad news for European Union member states. Europe has an obvious interest in the successful development of Russia’s resource sectors. It also has a less obvious, but no less compelling, interest in the evolution of Russia’s production and export structure in the direction of greater diversification and increased production of services and more sophisticated manufactures

How can SMEs benefit from big data? Challenges and a path forward

Big data is big news, and large companies in all sectors are making significant advances in their customer relations, product selection and development and consequent profitability through using this valuable commodity. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have proved themselves to be slow adopters of the new technology of big data analytics and are in danger of being left behind. In Europe, SMEs are a vital part of the economy, and the challenges they encounter need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. This paper identifies barriers to SME uptake of big data analytics and recognises their complex challenge to all stakeholders, including national and international policy makers, IT, business management and data science communities. The paper proposes a big data maturity model for SMEs as a first step towards an SME roadmap to data analytics. It considers the ‘state-of-the-art’ of IT with respect to usability and usefulness for SMEs and discusses how SMEs can overcome the barriers preventing them from adopting existing solutions. The paper then considers management perspectives and the role of maturity models in enhancing and structuring the adoption of data analytics in an organisation. The history of total quality management is reviewed to inform the core aspects of implanting a new paradigm. The paper concludes with recommendations to help SMEs develop their big data capability and enable them to continue as the engines of European industrial and business success. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Institutional Insecurity

Already the world's second biggest energy consumer, China is presently on track to become the world's largest user of energy by the year 2030. This phenomenon has kindled a profusion of literature to address how China will meet this demand and the affect it will have on global energy security. Current analyses overwhelmingly focus on the notion that energy security is based on the assurance of reliable energy supply at a reasonable price, invoking a disproportionate emphasis on the security of China's oil supply. This is largely a result of the psychological elements arising from the uncertainty of guaranteed oil supplies for China. In reality, however, oil imports are merely one dimension of China's energy security concerns and not even the most important. Far less attention has been given to the more obscure though imperative factor of China's domestic energy institutions and their role in meeting the country's energy security challenges both at home and abroad

Financial services for SME fisheries: the case study of South Africa

The primary objective of the South Africa case study has been to assess the availability of and access to financial services by SMEs in the fisheries sector. Fieldwork took place during 6-12 March 2011 in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Port St Francis, while desk research provided background information about the overall context of the economy and the fisheries sector in South Africa. This summary highlights key findings surrounding three areas: (1) overall context of finance for fisheries in South Africa; (2) current external and internal constraints to the development of the squid and tuna sectors; and (3) financial models for SMEs in the fisheries sector