Towards the Twenty-First Century

'As a crystal-gazing exercise, this book has much merit. It certainly highlights the fact that small business has an important role to play in the future economic survival of the world as we know it!' - Enterprise Magazine As the start of a new millennium approaches, new opportunities and challenges face the small-business sector in economies across the world, whether in developed countries, newly industrialized countries, developing countries, or the merging-market economies of Eastern Europe. The policies for developing small enterprises followed in the past are not necessarily those which will be needed to face the challenges to come. What is certain, however, is that small firms will play a large part in rejuvenating the economies of Eastern Europe, expanding those of the West, and growing those of the developing world. This book analyzes the opportunities, problems and challenges for the small-firms sector as the millennium approaches. Specialists examine a wide range of issues, which it is essential policymakers, politicians, academic researchers, and all those involved in economic development should know about and understand.The book examines such fields as informal risk capital and other aspects of the provision of finance, small business and the state, small firm turbulence, the controversial question of enterprise culture, growth characteristics in small and medium-sized manufacturers, women in self-employment, the growing phenomenon of home-working, particularly in the high technology sector, networking, and the increasingly important service sector. The papers were presented at the 13th National Small Firms' Policy and Research Conference in 1990. Published on behalf of UKEMRA.