Author(s):
1. Saša Petković, Ekonomski fakultet Univerziteta u Banjoj Luci, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract:
The global financial crisis has been increasingly destructive for transitional economies further weakening its fragile manufacturing sector. Bosnia & Herzegovina (B&H) including one of its entities Republica Srpska (RS) is not an exception. Although, as the official statistics suggest, the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not in recession, evidence of its growth is still discouraging. In this country where an irregular transition and economic reform wiped out most of the manufacturing sector dominated by large firms, entrepreneurship and SMEs development is seen as one of the key avenues for the economic recovery. This paper examines the range of influences in the institutional environment that affect the development of entrepreneurship and SMEs in RS. These include the role of government agencies, policy infrastructure, and other factors critical for the SMEs support. More specifically in this study we analyzed the programs, policies and strategies for SME support in RS. In so doing a survey was conducted in early 2010 in one of the most developed regions as well as the largest concentrations of new businesses in RS, Banja Luka. With 47.3 SMEs per 1000 inhabitants, Banja Luka has exceeded the European average. However, the RS marks the uneven development in its regions with weak entrepreneurial infrastructure. Specifically, respondents in the sample of 87 enterprises evaluated the availability of funding sources as a major problem to the development of SMEs in the Republic of Srpska. Entrepreneurs expect help from development programs through soft loans, grant and through guarantee funds. On the order to ensure the balanced and systematic development of the RS, based on the results of the research and analysis of the models of support for the growth and development of SMEs in the countries of Southeast and Central Europe, we will present a new Model of Structural Support to SMEs and Entrepreneurship in the Republic of Srpska.

Key words:
Transition, SMEs development, entrepreneurship infrastructure, institutional support

Opening paper:
Yes

Date of abstract submission:
18.05.2011.

Number of visits:
932

Conference:
REDETE 2011

Applied paper from author