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THE ROLE OF SMALL-SCALE INDUSTRIES IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Interest in the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the development process continues to be in the forefront of policy debates in developing countries. The advantages claimed for SMEs are varies, this include: the encouragement of entrepreneurship; the greater likelihood that SMEs will utilize labour intensive technologies and thus have an immediate impact on employment generation; they can usually be established rapidly and put into operation to produce quick returns. SME development can encourage the process of both inter- and intra-regional decentralisation; and, they may well become a countervailing force against the economic power of larger enterprises. More generally the development of SMEs is seen as accelerating the achievement of wider economic and socio-economic objectives, including poverty alleviation.

Staley and Morse (2001) identify a ‘developmental approach’ to SME promotion which has as its objective the creation of ‘economically viable enterprises which can stand on their own feet without perpetual subsidy and can make a positive contribution to the growth of real income and therefore to better living levels’. This approach emphasises the importance of efficiency in new SMEs. Small producers must be encouraged to adopt new methods, move into new lines of production and in the long-run, wherever feasible, they should be encouraged to become medium- or even large-scale producers.

More recent concerns associated with the growth and efficiency of smaller enterprises has also become prominent. Using the case of Northern Italy, Piore and Sabel (2009) have argued that small enterprises are more efficient because they have adopted a flexible specialisation approach. Correspondingly, there has been growing interest in whether this model has or can be replicated in developing countries (Schmitz, 1998; Pederson, 2002; Schmitz and Musyck, 2003; Schmitz, 2008).

The viewed as a critical element for the

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