Title: ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES IN ENGLAND: EVIDENCE FROM A THEORY BASED EVALUATION

In England, publicly supported advice to small firms is organized primarily through the Business Link (BL) network. Using the programme theory underlying this business support, we develop four propositions and test these empirically using data from a new survey of over 3000 English SMEs. We find strong support for the value to BL operators of a high profile to boost take-up. We find support for the BL’s market segmentation that targets intensive assistance to younger firms and those with limited liability. Allowing for sample selection, we find no significant effects on growth from ‘other’ assistance but find a significant employment boost from intensive assistance. This partially supports the programme theory assertion that BL improves business growth and strongly supports the proposition that there are differential outcomes from intensive and other assistance. This suggests an improvement in the BL network, compared with earlier studies, notably Roper et al. (2001), Roper and Hart (2005). En Angleterre, l’aide aux petites entreprises, soutenue par le secteur public, est principalement organisée par le réseau Business Link (BL). Nous basant sur la théorie des programmes qui servent de base à ce soutien entrepreneurial, nous définissons quatre propositions que nous testons empiriquement à l’aide d’informations obtenues dans le cadre d’un nouveau sondage réalisé auprès de plus de 3000 petites et moyennes entreprises anglaises. Nous bénéficions d’un grand soutien eu égard la valeur accordée aux agents de BL dont le profil privilégié accroît le pourcentage d’adhésion. Nous bénéficions d’un grand soutien pour la segmentation du marché de BL qui concentre ses efforts à aider les entreprises naissantes et celles à responsabilité limitée. Si l’on tient compte de la sélection d’échantillons, on observe que les “autres” types d’aide n’ont pas d’influence majeure sur la croissance mais, par contre, on note une augmentation considérable de l’emploi suite à une aide intensive. Ces résultats soutiennent en partie la thèse de la théorie des programmes, à savoir que BL accroît l’essor de l’entreprise et soutient vigoureusement la proposition que l’aide intensive et des autres types d’aide sont sources de résultats différentiels. Ces conclusions suggèrent une amélioration au sein du réseau BL, par rapport aux études antérieures, particulièrement celles de Roper et al. (2001), Roper and Hart (2005). En Inglaterra, el asesoramiento a las pequeñas empresas, apoyado por el sector público, se organiza principalmente a través de Business Link (BL),una red de vinculaciones empresariales. Empleando la teoría de programas que sirve de base a este apoyo empresarial, desarrollamos cuatro propuestas y las comprobamos empíricamente con datos obtenidos de una nueva encuesta de más de 3000 PYME inglesas. Encontramos mucho apoyo al valor para los operadores de BL de ocupar un lugar destacado para incentivar la tasa de aceptación. Encontramos apoyo a la división del mercado de BL que concentra la ayuda intensiva en las empresas incipientes y en las de responsabilidad limitada. Teniendo en cuenta la selección de muestras, no encontramos que el crecimiento era afectado significativamente por otros tipos de asistencia, pero se evidencia un aumento considerable en el nivel de empleo debido a la ayuda intensiva. Estos resultados respaldan en parte la aseveración que BL aumenta el crecimiento comercial y apoya totalmente la propuesta que la asistencia intensiva y de otros tipos produce consecuencias diferenciales. Estas conclusiones sugieren una mejora en la red BL en comparación con los estudios anteriores, notablemente Roper et al (2001) Roper and Hart (2005). In England wird die öffentlich unterstützte Unternehmensberatung für kleine Unternehmen hauptsächlich durch das Business Link (BL) Netzwerk organisiert. Mit der Programmtheorie, die dieser Unternehmensbetreuung zugrunde liegt, entwickeln wir vier Vorschläge und prüfen diese empirisch mit Daten aus einer neuen Umfrage unter mehr als 3000 englischen KMUs. Wir finden bedeutende Hinweise, dass ein BL Betreiber einen hohen Bekanntheitsgrad benötigt, damit seine Dienste angenommen werden. Wir finden eine Fundierung für die Marktsegmentierung der BL Netzwerke, die das Ziel hat, intensive Unterstützung speziell für junge Unternehmen und solche mit beschränkter Haftung zu bieten. Unter Berücksichtigung der Stichprobenauswahl finden wir keine bedeutenden Auswirkungen auf das Wachstum durch „andere“ Unterstützung, finden jedoch eine erhebliche Beschäftigungssteigerung durch intensive Unterstützung. Dies untermauert teilweise die Behauptung der Programmtheorie, dass das BL Netzwerk Unternehmenswachstum fördert und bekräftigt die These, dass intensive und andere Unterstützung unterschiedliche Ergebnisse liefern. Dies deutet auf eine Verbesserung des BL Netzwerks im Vergleich zu früheren Studien, insbesondere Roper et al. (2001) sowie Roper and Hart (2005) hin.

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