Bob Rijkers's blog

SME promotion programs are becoming progressively more popular. While evidence on their effectiveness remains elusive, their policy prominence is predicated on the belief that small firms grow faster and generate the most jobs. Our preliminary analysis of the Tunisian registry of firms, which contains longitudinal information on all formal firms from 1996 until 2010, yields three stylized facts suggesting that large firms are far more important than small firms in generating employment and growth.

What policies can help mitigate the impact of financial crises  on employment? In an ambitious paper presented at the World Bank seminar series of the Chief Economist of the Middle East and Northern Africa Region, IMF colleagues Davide Furceri, Dominique Guillaume and Lorenzo Bernal-Verdugo provide a partial answer to what is arguably one of the most pressing questions confronting policymakers across the globe today.