Competing in the Single Market - SMEs and ... - Erhvervsstyrelsen

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enterprise development. There are numerous indications both of complementarities and synergypotentials of the economic strengths of these countries, and of linkages between these countries’innovation systems. Furthermore, the Baltic and Nordic countries have close economic, political andcultural ties, and all are currently looking very much to innovation policy to tackle the structuralchallenges facing their respective economies.In light of these factors, and given the end of the East-West division of Europe, there is now a historicopportunity to lay the framework conditions that will enable the Baltic Sea region to become aneconomically strong, highly integrated and dynamic region, characterised and connected by regionalspecialisation processes, cross-border clusters and public-private partnerships.SMEs in the B4: Key Points• The B4 have been very successful in establishing macroeconomic stability. However, that initself is not enough to ensure the development of dynamic SMEs.• SMEs have a short history in the B4: companies are young, and the sector is young.• SMEs represent the large majority of enterprises, and contribute most to employment andGDP in the B4.• Compared to the EU, there are fewer economically active enterprises per capita in the B4.• Of the acceding countries, the B4 rank lowest on productivity per employee; productivity inSMEs is generally even lower.• SMEs do not have a strong presence in high value-added/high-tech sectors of the economy.• Although SMEs account for a relatively low share of total exports in the B4 (20-44%), theyare more export oriented than their EU counterparts (where SME exports represent only13% of total exports).• The B4 appear to have all the pre-requisites necessary (and rank well) on their capacity toinnovate, yet are still competing on low cost or local natural resources rather than unique/innovative products and services.• SMEs have an even tougher time than large-sized enterprises (LSEs) in developing innovativeproducts and services, and lack the capital and networks to strengthen their innovative capacity.• What is required is a critical mass of SMEs that are innovative, competitive, and able andwilling to grow.• There are many support organisations and policy mechanisms geared towards supportingSMEs, but SME policies are generally not incorporated into the wider context of nationalinnovation policies/priorities.• The B4 countries have made much progress on improving the administrative, legal andregulatory environment for SMEs, but still have work in the areas of entrepreneurship/management training, development of venture/risk capital mechanisms, and national/international network building among other things.• The B4 countries view the EU Structural Funds as a mechanism to further their work onsupporting SMEs, but there is a risk that focus and overall perspective is lost as much timeand energy is spent on administering these funds.• There is a need for a common vision (for SMEs/enterprise development).8
TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION _____________________________________________________________________________________ 13CHAPTER 1: FROM STABILISATION TO INNOVATION:LEGACIES AND TRANSITION IN THE B4 COUNTRIES __________________________________________ 15Introduction _______________________________________________________________________________________ 15From Transition to Innovation _____________________________________________________________________ 16Innovation Performance in the B4 _________________________________________________________________ 19Summary __________________________________________________________________________________________ 27CHAPTER 2: BALTIC SMES – AGENTS OF FUTURE GROWTH ____________________________________ 29The Rising Importance of SMEs Globally __________________________________________________________ 29SMEs in the B4 ____________________________________________________________________________________ 35The Role of SMEs in Transitional Economies ___________________________________________________ 35Structure and Presence of SMEs in the B4 ____________________________________________________ 38SMEs as Drivers of Innovation and Competitiveness in the B4 ___________________________________ 46SMEs and Innovation __________________________________________________________________________ 46SMEs in the B4 – Struggling to Innovate ______________________________________________________ 47Summary __________________________________________________________________________________________ 56CHAPTER 3: POLICIES PROMOTING SMES AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ________________ 57SME Policies within a National Innovation System ________________________________________________ 57SME Policies in the B4 _____________________________________________________________________________ 60Institutional Structure _________________________________________________________________________ 61Programmes, Policies and Progress ____________________________________________________________ 69EU Structural Funds ___________________________________________________________________________ 73Priorities for Policy _________________________________________________________________________________ 76Summary __________________________________________________________________________________________ 80CHAPTER 4: CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS ___________________________________________ 81Introduction _______________________________________________________________________________________ 81General Challenges ________________________________________________________________________________ 83Specific Challenges ________________________________________________________________________________ 84Recommendations _________________________________________________________________________________ 89CHAPTER 5: A VISION OF A NORDIC-BALTIC INNOVATION REGION _________________________ 91Baltic and Nordic Countries – Similarities and Differences ________________________________________ 91Networking Economies – The Case for Strengthening Baltic/Nordic Cooperation _________________ 94CONCLUSIONS _______________________________________________________________________________________ 97REFERENCES _________________________________________________________________________________________ 99APPENDIX I _________________________________________________________________________________________ 107APPENDIX II ________________________________________________________________________________________ 111APPENDIX III ______________________________________________________________________________________ 113APPENDIX IV _______________________________________________________________________________________ 115APPENDIX V ________________________________________________________________________________________ 1199
Page 1 and 2: Sylvia Schwaag SergerEmily HanssonC
Page 4 and 5: About the International Organisatio
Page 7: PREFACEAccession to the Single Mark
Page 12 and 13: BOXESBox 1: The ‘Knowledge-Based
Page 15 and 16: INTRODUCTIONAfter more than 10 year
Page 17 and 18: CHAPTER 1: FROM STABILISATION TO IN
Page 19: increased competitive pressure as B
Page 22 and 23: Box 2: On Innovation and Innovation
Page 24 and 25: Table 5: GDP Growth 1995-2003 in Se
Page 26 and 27: Table 7: Relative Strengths and Wea
Page 28 and 29: Box 3: The Indicator ProblemExistin
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER 2:BALTIC SMEs - AGENTS OF F
Page 33 and 34: Table 9: Average Annual Growth of S
Page 35 and 36: Box 4: Overview of Selected Multina
Page 37 and 38: The Role of SMEs in Transitional Ec
Page 39 and 40: e to the potential advantage of the
Page 41 and 42: A common measurement of business ac
Page 43 and 44: Figure 8: Labour Productivity per P
Page 45 and 46: Figure 10: Employment in Med/Hi-tec
Page 47 and 48: Summing up, there are fewer economi
Page 49 and 50: Overall, SMEs tend to lack the fina
Page 51 and 52: Figure 12: Enterprises with Innovat
Page 53 and 54: Figure 14: Proportion of Enterprise
Page 55 and 56: Table 14: Barriers to Innovation fo
Page 57 and 58: Some interesting examples of cluste
Page 59 and 60: CHAPTER 3:POLICIES PROMOTING SMEs A
Page 61 and 62:
National governments themselves wil
Page 63 and 64:
Institutional StructureIn all of th
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EU countries (innovation relay cent
Page 67 and 68:
LITHUANIAAgency/OrganisationLithuan
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From the private sector, the chambe
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On the whole, the B4 have relativel
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LITHUANIAProgramme/Policy DocumentI
Page 75 and 76:
Table 19: B4 National Rankings of A
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Box 11: Structural Funds to the Can
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Box 12: On SMEs and FinancingIt doe
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examples of evaluations of national
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CHAPTER 4:CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDA
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General challengesBased on our own
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the above-mentioned channels. 27 On
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the EU average and particularly wit
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RecommendationsBased on the challen
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CHAPTER 5:A VISION OF A NORDIC-BALT
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addition, they are the most advance
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countries. One such sign is the rap
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CONCLUSIONSEU accession will not re
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REFERENCESAlfonso, Antonio, Ludger
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European Commission (2003f), Compre
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Eurostat (2004a), SMEs in the Candi
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Statistical Office of Estonia (2004
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APPENDIX I:Agenda for Working Group
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DAY 2:POLICY SOLUTIONS9:30-10:30 In
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APPENDIX II:Participants in the IKE
Page 115 and 116:
APPENDIX III:Conclusions from the I
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APPENDIX IV:Summary of the Panel se
Page 119 and 120:
Regarding the role of policymaking,
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APPENDIX V:Description of Field Stu
Page 123 and 124:
Mr. Miroslaw MarekMr. Talis Millers
Page 126:
IKED - International Organisation f
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