THE IMPACT OF HUMAN CAPITAL ON SME GROWTH: International experience and evidence for Kosovo

Koka Grubi, Arta (2018) THE IMPACT OF HUMAN CAPITAL ON SME GROWTH: International experience and evidence for Kosovo. Doctoral thesis, University "St.Kliment Ohridski" - Bitola.

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Abstract

The vital role played by SMEs in the economic development of South Eastern European (SEE) countries remains relatively unexplored, despite the attention of academics and policymakers. Kosovo’s private sector business is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, creating the growth of SMEs very vital to the nation’s economic development. The growth of SMEs in transition economies by traditional economists is affiliated with firm characteristics of age and size. However, it the researcher noticed that Kosovo lack's empirical evidence regarding other specific determinants which may impact SME profit, and consequently the growth of the economy in Kosovo. Also, the purpose of this paper is to explore the critical determinants of growth in small and medium-sized enterprises in Kosovo, by emphasizing the importance of general and human capital and by revealing the paramount significance between these two.
After conducting a review of the literature on related studies, we compiled other secondary data. The target population for this study is Kosovo’s based entrepreneurs who were interviewed by the Business Support Centre Kosovo (BSCK). The population consisted of 500 entrepreneurs. Businesses who are representing trade, manufacturing and services sectors in Kosovo. The data were analyzed using both descriptive statistics, as well as inferential techniques, such as logistic regression analysis. SPSS system was used to aid the analysis process. We looked into the relationship between an individual’s background, individual’s competencies, firm’s attributes, and SME growth. The main conclusion was that age, gender and education are likely to have positive effects on business growth. On the other hand, Becker (1964) argues that employers will only invest in specific training, not general training when labor markets are competitive. Therefore, this study shall reassess Becker’s theory. Basically while using his framework, we indicate that there is an incentive complementarity between employer-sponsored general and specific training: the chance to offer specific training leads the employer to invest in general human capital, or vice and versa. We shall discuss some empirical facts that are already explained by the theory, based on the information received through face to face interviews comprising 30 business owners in Kosovo. The main recommendations were that general, and specific education and training are essential and should be offered to a more significant number of enterprises at affordable costs. Also, business management training programs should encounter the needs of the clients and should be tailor-made. The results of our empirical research also have some policy implications: we argue that governments in Kosovo must to pay improved attention to small and medium-sized
11 enterprises, and attempt to design and implement better strategies that will be beneficial for human capital development, and consequently SME growth

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	Scientific Fields (Frascati) > Social Sciences > Economics and Business
Divisions:	Doctoral Dissertations
Depositing User:	M-r Bojan Mihajlovski
Date Deposited:	30 Oct 2023 08:53
Last Modified:	30 Oct 2023 08:53
URI:	https://eprints.uklo.edu.mk/id/eprint/8943

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