ERC - ResPap114 Policy Briefing The relationships between business support, managerial practices and firm performance over time Knox Mwaura Oziri

ERC - ResPap114 Policy Briefing The relationships between business support, managerial practices and firm performance over time Knox Mwaura Oziri Policy Briefing The relationships between business support with venture performance and practice over Authors time Research Paper 114 November 2024 This paper explores the links between business advice, government grants, managerial practices, and firm p. [...] We analyse data from across five years of the Longitudinal Small Business Survey (2018-2022) to understand how business advice, government grants, or combined business support received in 2018 influences the managerial practices enacted by SMEs in 2019 and how this indirectly influences firm performance over time. [...] Moreover, the relationship between business support and firm performance appears lagged, with SMEs needing time to implement the support before seeing any improvements. [...] Policy implications For policymakers and actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem delivering business support to SMEs, our analysis presents several important implications: The relationship between business advice and government grants and improvements in firm performance is lagged, indicating that SMEs need time to implement the support they receive before realising performance benefits. [...] The findings reveal that the relationship between business support and firm performance is indirect.