Competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises in North Cyprus: A firm level analysis.

Abstract

This study aims at investigating discriminating factors of low and high performance small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in terms of the perception of the SME owners/managers about profit goal achievement in North Cyprus. The study employs the recent and only available micro-data from Manufacturing Industry’s Profile and Expectations Surveys (2009 and 2010) initiated by Chamber of Industry and conducted by Small Business Development and Research Centre (SBDRC). Surveys’ sample covers approximately 70% of the companies in the manufacturing sector. Findings of the Discriminant Analysis (DA) indicates that performing (competitive) manufacturing firms are those who have more competent entrepreneurs, low labor unit cost, high capacity utilization and growth phases of companies. Variables like age of owners/manager, age of the firms, number of employees, target market (domestic or foreign), legal structure of the enterprise, investment on technology and quality have not been statistically significant