The Government Policy on “Small Business” Support: The Bulgarian Case

Two major concepts related to the role, place and development of the small and medium scale business sector (SME) are most popular among the public. According to the first concept, the immanent advantages of this sector are an ample economic factor for SME to perform well. The other concept studies and recommends a number of necessary measures at government level, that are a compulsory prerequisite for the efficient SME sector performance in the market economies. At government level, some countries in transition such as Bulgaria, for example, attempt to synthesize elements from both concepts. On the one hand, the serious challenges of the transition engage the management capacity and resources and force the government to give priority to mainly the “automatically acting market forces” in the process of development of the emerging national small business sector. On the other hand, however, the lack of entrepreneurial experience and traditions, of suitable financing schemes and unavailability of support business infrastructure considerably obstructs the emergence and development of small companies. This paper discusses the achievements and shortcomings of government policy in this field. Based on official statistics and analysis of business practice data a conclusion is made namely in countries with an average level of industrial development only targeted and long-term government policy for small business and entrepreneurship, promotion and support could be of considerable significance.