Editing Small and medium enterprises (section)

{{Short description|Type of business with small personnel numbers}}
'''Small and medium-sized enterprises''' ('''SMEs''') or '''small and medium-sized businesses''' ('''SMBs''') are [[business]]es whose [[personnel]] and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organizations such as the [[World Bank]], the [[OECD]], [[European Union]], the [[United Nations]], and the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO).

In any given national economy, SMEs outnumber large companies by a wide margin and also employ many more people.<ref>
Compare:
{{cite book
 | last1 = Fischer
 | first1 = Eileen
 | last2 = Reuber
 | first2 = Rebecca
 | title = Industrial Clusters and SME Promotion in Developing Countries
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sGliMcf3KPcC
 | series = Issue 3 of Commonwealth trade and enterprise paper, ISSN 2310-1369
 | year = 2000
 | location = London
 | publisher = Commonwealth Secretariat
 | publication-date = 2000
 | page = 1
 | isbn = 9780850926484
 | access-date = 18 November 2020
 | quote = In most countries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up the majority of businesses and account for the highest proportion of employment.
}}
</ref><ref name="doi.org">{{Cite journal |last1=Olorunshola |first1=Damilola Temitope |last2=Odeyemi |first2=Temitayo Isaac |date=2022-01-01 |title=Virtue or vice? Public policies and Nigerian entrepreneurial venture performance |url=https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-07-2021-0279 |journal=Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development |volume=30 |pages=100–119 |issue=  |doi=10.1108/JSBED-07-2021-0279 |s2cid=249721896 |issn=1462-6004|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
On a global scale, SMEs make up 90% of all companies and more than 50% of all employment.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Gómez |first1=Katia Fach |last2=Titi |first2=Catharine |author-link2=Catharine Titi |date=2023-12-01 |title=Facilitating Access to Investor-State Dispute Settlement for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Tracing the Path Forward |url=https://kluwerlawonline.com/journalarticle/European+Business+Law+Review/34.7/EULR2023049 |journal=European Business Law Review |language=en |volume=34 |issue=7 |pages=1040–1041 |doi=10.54648/EULR2023049 |issn=0959-6941}}</ref> For example, in the EU, 99% of all businesses are SMEs.<ref name=":5" /> [[Australia]]n SMEs makeup 98% of all Australian businesses, produce one-third of the total [[GDP]] (gross domestic product) and employ 4.7 million people. In [[Chile]], in the commercial year 2014, 98.5% of the firms were classified as SMEs.<ref>{{Citation|date= 2016-04-14|chapter-url= https://www.oecd-library.org/industry-and-services/financing-smes-and-entrepreneurs-2016/chile_fin_sme_ent-2016-11-en|pages= 155–173|publisher= OECD Publishing |doi= 10.1787/fin_sme_ent-2016-11-en|isbn= 9789264249462|access-date= 2018-10-01 |title = Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2016 |chapter = Chile}}</ref> In [[Tunisia]], the self-employed workers alone account for about 28% of the total non-farm employment, and firms with fewer than 100 employees account for about 62% of total employment.<ref name=rijkers>Rijkers et al (2014): "Which firms create the most jobs in developing countries?", ''Labour Economics'', Volume 31, December 2014, pp.84–102</ref> United States' SMEs generate half of all U.S. jobs, but only 40% of GDP.<ref>
{{cite book
 | author1 = United States. Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba
 | author-link1 = Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba
 | title = Report to the President
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=L9NIAQAAIAAJ
 | series = Department of State publication, volume 11164
 | others = Colin L. Powell
 | year = 2004
 | publisher = U.S. Department of State
 | publication-date = 2004
 | page = 233
 | access-date = 18 November 2020
 | quote = In the United States, small business accounts for 50 percent of jobs, 40 percent of GDP, 30 percent of exports, and one-half of technological innovations.
}}
</ref>

Developing countries tend to have a larger share of small and medium-sized enterprises.<ref>
Compare:
{{cite book
 | last1 = Antoldi
 | first1 = Fabio
 | last2 = Cerrato
 | first2 = Daniele
 | last3 = Depperu
 | first3 = Donatella
 | title = Export Consortia in Developing Countries: Successful Management of Cooperation Among SMEs
 | date = 5 January 2012
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9IUrrfRR7SoC
 | location = Berlin
 | publisher = Springer Science & Business Media
 | publication-date = 2012
 | page = v
 | isbn = 9783642248788
 | access-date = 18 November 2020
 | quote = Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are highly significant in both developed and developing countries as a proportion of the totl number of firms, for the contribution they make to employment, and for their ability to develop innovation.
}}
</ref><ref name="doi.org"/> SMEs are also responsible for driving [[innovation]] and [[Competition (economics)|competition]] in many [[economic sector]]s.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Cueto|first1=L. J.|last2=Frisnedi|first2=A. F. D.|last3=Collera|first3=R. B.|last4=Batac|first4=K. I. T.|last5=Agaton|first5=C. B.|year=2022|title=Digital Innovations in MSMEs during Economic Disruptions: Experiences and Challenges of Young Entrepreneurs|journal=Administrative Sciences|volume=12|issue=1|pages=8|doi=10.3390/admsci12010008|issn=2076-3387|doi-access=free |hdl=10419/275280|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Although they create more new jobs than large firms, SMEs also suffer the majority of job destruction/contraction.<ref>
Aga et al. (2015): [https://www.enterprisesurveys.org/~/media/GIAWB/EnterpriseSurveys/Documents/ResearchPapers/SMEs-age-and-jobs.pdf SMEs, Age, and Jobs: A Review of the Literature, Metrics, and Evidence], World Bank Group, November 2015.</ref>

According to the [[World Bank Group]]'s 2021 FINDEX database, there is a $1.7 trillion funding gap for formal, women-owned micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Additionally, over 68% of small women-owned firms lack access to finance.'''<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bank |first=European Investment |date=2024-03-07 |title=EIB Gender equality and women's economic empowerment - Overview 2024 |url=https://www.eib.org/en/publications/20230386-gender-overview-2024 |language=EN}}</ref>'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Global Findex Database 2021: Women and Financial Inclusion |url=https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/45619be5de8592403df8558559627234-0050062022/original/Findex-GenderBrief.pdf}}</ref>