This paper reports a survey result conducted in May 2012. We sent a questionnaire to 3,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), whose main business sector is manufacture and which locate in Aichi Prefecture, one of the largest economic regions in Japan. 803 SMEs answered this questionnaire. We asked 53 questions, including firm’s current business condition, relationship with their main banks, financial support from local governments, cooperation with universities and research institutes, and usage of public guarantee scheme. The main feature of this survey is that it focuses on the role of local government in providing financial supports to SMEs. According to the results, approximately 30% of the respondents currently use financial support programs provided by local governments, such as favorable fixed interest rates loan guaranteed by public guarantee corporations. Over 90% of the respondents understand outlines of these financial support programs. We find that the support programs are very popular among SMEs. Many respondents that have used the program said that the programs contribute to the improvement of corporate performance and enable them to invest new equipment. Also, we asked SMEs about cooperation with universities and research institutes. We found that 63% of the respondents have not worked with universities and research institutes, and only 3.7% of the respondents experienced successful results, such as new products and services. We believe that Japanese SMEs should conduct innovations in order to survive in more and more competitive environments, and business-academia collaboration appears a promising way to conduct innovations. We have to analyze what are main obstacles for the collaboration and how we can encourage SMEs to participate in the collaborating activity.
How Do Financial Institutions and Regional Governments Address to Support and Strengthen Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Tokai Region? : A Survey Result.
