Comparative Growth Factors of Small, Medium, and Large Formal Enterprises in Côte d’Ivoire

Abstract

This paper analyses the comparative explanatory factors of SMEs and large enterprises in the Ivory Coast. Using data from 361 companies in the World Bank Survey 2016, the study is based on a pre-selected panel of companies. The’ descriptive analysis shows an inverse relationship between the rate of growth of the’entreprise and its size. In addition, the’ study reveals that, the financing problem, the political instability’, the competition of the informal sector and the rate of’ taxation are the main obstacles to the growth of the’ enterprise. Regardless of the size considered, the financing problem and political instability’ prove to be the main barriers to business growth. Based on an econometric analysis using a fixed-effects panel, transversally, the decline in’employment and the costs incurred to ensure security hinder the growth of companies while the size of the’entreprise and the fact that the manager is a woman are levers of this growth. In a dynamic approach, the size and costs of safety are brakes while the connection to’electricity boosts the growth of companies. As a result, there is a need for major’investments in security and the maintenance of stability.