What kind of business advice improves small business productivity?

Henley, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4057-1679 2024. What kind of business advice improves small business productivity? Enterprise Research Centre Insights Paper

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Abstract

The UK has a longstanding productivity gap with major competitor economies. Knowledge-based explanations and policy instruments attract substantial attention, including the provision of formal advice for SMEs. This paper estimates the impact of formal business advice interventions on employee productivity. It also estimates the impacts of different advice topics to identify those more likely to enhance productivity. Quantitative analysis is conducted using recent UK data for the period 2015 to 2021. Statistical matching and treatment analysis control for the likelihood that firms which actively seek advice have different characteristics. Findings show that obtaining business advice, across all forms, raises productivity by 10 per cent. Topics associated with sizeable improvements suggest that advice focused on codified knowledge delivered by trusted professional practitioners could provide most traction on improving SME productivity. This has important implications for public policy support and the design of signposting activity.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor > HD28 Management. Industrial Management
Uncontrolled Keywords:	small business, business advice, productivity
Publisher:	University of Warwick Enterprise Research Centre
Funders:	ESRC
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	4 March 2024
Date of Acceptance:	4 March 2024
Last Modified:	14 Apr 2024 01:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/166822

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