Department of Agricultural Economics and Management, School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Department of City & Regional Planning, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro, Pakistan.
PLoS One. 2021 Mar 8;16(3):e0247598. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247598. eCollection 2021.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are considered as the fundamental tool for economic growth, nevertheless, they face continuous financing challenges. SMEs are a major source for generating employment, creation of wealth and alleviating poverty from the rural regions in developing countries. Their access to finance is key to the expansion of this sector. The paper aims to discover the intervening role of "access of SMEs to finance" in the link between SME's evolution and rural development, in the context of Pakistan. In total 338 entrepreneurs operating SMEs in rural areas completed a survey for the study. Through a multi-stage stratified random sampling technique, entrepreneurs were selected from three districts. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to test hypotheses. This study shows that SME's evolution has a positive and optimistic influence on rural development. Further, the study also reveals that on SME's progress a positive influence happens by the "access of SMEs to finance". Particularly, the study finds that "access of SMEs to finance" significantly mediated the effect of SME's evolution on rural development. The findings of this paper hold significant implications for both the research society and loan-issuing institutions and departments.
中小企业（SMEs）被认为是经济增长的基本工具，但它们面临着持续的融资挑战。中小企业是创造就业机会、创造财富和缓解发展中国家农村地区贫困的主要来源。它们获得资金是该部门扩张的关键。本文旨在探讨在巴基斯坦背景下，“中小企业获得资金的渠道”在中小企业发展与农村发展之间的联系中的中介作用。共有 338 名在农村地区经营中小企业的企业家完成了这项研究的调查。通过多阶段分层随机抽样技术，从三个地区选择了企业家。验证性因子分析和结构方程模型用于检验假设。本研究表明，中小企业的发展对农村发展有积极和乐观的影响。此外，研究还表明，中小企业的进步通过“中小企业获得资金的渠道”产生了积极的影响。特别是，研究发现，“中小企业获得资金的渠道”显著调解了中小企业发展对农村发展的影响。本文的研究结果对研究界和贷款发放机构和部门都具有重要意义。
