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Determinants of microenterprise performance in Nepal

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Abstract

Although the literature on entrepreneurship studies has contributed significantly in improving our insights regarding the factors determining the enterprise performance in a broader sense, there has been a little research concerning the factors determining the microenterprise performance. Using primary data enumerated from 501 micro-entrepreneurs randomly sampled across different strata—gender, caste/ethnicity, enterprise category and ecological belts in Nepal in 2013 for the years 2068 BS (April 2011–March 2012) and 2069 BS (April 2012–March 2013) and executing the multiple linear regression models, the study primarily focused on identifying the factors determining the microenterprise performance. The study revealed that the entrepreneur-related factors, particularly gender, managerial skills, need for achievement, need for autonomy, creative tendency, internal locus of control and managerial foresight; enterprise-related factors, particularly enterprise age, enterprise size and initial financial constraint; and environment-related factor, particularly social network, were the key factors determining the performance of microenterprises in Nepal.

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Acknowledgments

The author is grateful for the valuable comments of Prof. Sombat Thamrongthanyawong (Ph.D.), National Institute of Development Administration, Bangkok, Thailand, and gratefully acknowledges the supports from the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), UK.

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  1. School of Development and Social Engineering, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Pokhara University, Kaski, Nepal

    Ajay Thapa

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Thapa, A. Determinants of microenterprise performance in Nepal. Small Bus Econ 45, 581–594 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-015-9654-0

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