The name is absent

Aliki Mouriki

8 out of 10 Spanish firms have less than three employees and more than half have no employees at
all. Most SMEs operate in the service and commerce sectors, where the level of unionization is low.
This leads to an individualization of labour relations, thus providing firms with increased flexibility
in the organisation of work (Royo, 2007).

The prevalence of SMEs, and in particular of micro-firms, in Greece and Spain, can provide an
explanation as to why the business sector in these two countries has not been able to play a leading
role in the shaping of the national growth model and in facilitating change and policy innovation (act-
ing as “institutional entrepreneurs”). SMEs are especially burdened with economic backwardness and
have a very poor record of regulation enforcement and a widespread recourse to informal employ-
ment. At the same time, they lack the human and technical resources that would allow them to reap
the full benefits of the programmes directed to them through the Community Support Frameworks
and to adjust to the new environment and challenges ahead (Mouriki & Traxler, 2007).

In addition, owing to their size SMEs, and micro-firms in particular:

• are unable to take advantage of economies of scale;

• apply traditional forms of work organisation and their innovation capacity is low;

• have limited access to public resources and bank loans and are the first victims of tight-
ening credit conditions;

• suffer disproportionably from excessive administrative regulations;

• make little use of Information and Communication Technologies and modern manage-
ment techniques;

• face difficulties in recruiting skilled labour;

• lack resources to train their employees, and do not have an incentive to do so in the first
place;

• do not have a valid interlocutor from the workers’ side, as unionisation is either very
weak or non-existent in small firms;

• their competitive advantage is often based on low costs and weak institutional regulation.

By contrast, in Denmark and the Netherlands, firms have been central actors in the national de-
velopmental path and participate in the design and implementation of policies. The more a firm is

Page • 56

<<   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   >>

More intriguing information