Small-Firm Growth and Public Policy in Northern Ireland: Making the Difference?

Abstract

The authors describe an investigation into the regional dimension to the process of small-firm growth and development in the United Kingdom in the 1990s. Recent trends in the growth performance of small manufacturing and service-sector firms are presented for the UK regions and an attempt is made to establish if there are regional variations in the set of factors which may determine faster growth. In particular, a detailed examination of the impact of public policy assistance to small firms in Northern Ireland, as delivered by the Local Enterprise Development Unit—the small-business agency for the region—is undertaken in an attempt to measure more precisely the contribution of the policy environment to small-firm growth within one region of the United Kingdom.