Can SME Policies Improve Firm Performance? Evidence from an Impact Evaluation in Argentina

Victoria Castillo, Alessandro Maffioli (), Ana P. Monsalvo, Sofía Rojo and Rodolfo Stucchi
Additional contact information
Victoria Castillo: Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Ana P. Monsalvo: Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Sofía Rojo: Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security, Buenos Aires, Argentina

No 710, OVE Working Papers from Inter-American Development Bank, Office of Evaluation and Oversight (OVE)

Abstract: This paper evaluates the impact of the Argentine SME support program PRE on employment, real wages, and exports. The program aimed at increasing the competitiveness of SMEs by co-financing up to fifty percent of expenditures in professional services and technical assistance. We use a unique panel dataset constructed with administrative records. We combine Propensity Score Matching and Difference in Differences methods to control for selection biases in the estimations. We find a positive and quantitatively important impact of the program on employment and a positive although smaller impact on real wages and the probability of exporting. We also find that the effect of the program on wages and the probability of exporting take place one year after beneficiaries receive the program. The effect of the program on employment takes place one, two, and even, three years after beneficiaries receive the program.

Keywords: Public Policy Evaluation; SMEs; Employment; Wages; Exports; Argentina; Difference in Differences; Propensity Score Matching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 H43 L25 O12 O54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23 pages
Date: 2010-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ent and nep-sbm
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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