漫紫色ˇ笔迹。

自认是感性之人。无论是当《面纱》里混杂着性欲和愚蠢的爱幡然醒悟时的为时已晚，还是《男才女貌》里徘徊在生死边缘却仍然单纯和美好到无以言表的爱情，我都对着屏幕傻傻地流泪挣扎着从剧情里解脱出来。自认是矛盾之人。强悍和脆弱，倔强和敏感，任性和细腻。那些相对词生存于我的身体和精神里，随着年龄的长大，细胞的增多而越发茂盛着，这让我无措和无奈。

写论文，焦头烂额。以贯有的姿态对待我已经决定的事情，以满腔的热情回报爱我的人。
暂时不写博，信手拈来的文字和随意而做的图片，以此证明页还在博上活着。

决然收场，郁郁惆怅；奈将过往，封印存档。

（图片与文字为原创，勿自行修改后盗用，万分感谢）

Abstract

The paper examines the research on finance and the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector in developing countries. The paper argues that theoretical insights into this field have largely been confined to studies undertaken in the US and UK. In developing countries' research on both the supply and demand for finance in relation to SMEs has been empirically-based and has been pre-occupied with gathering information on the characteristics of SMEs and lending institutions rather than on testing theoretical proportions that would improve our understanding of the relationship between finance and SMEs. A research agenda is outlined.

Key words: Finance, enterprises, liberalization, developing economies

Interest in the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in the development process continues to be in the forefront of policy debates in developing countries. The advantages claimed for SMEs are various, including: the encouragement of entrepreneurship; the greater likelihood that SMEs will utilize labor intensive technologies and thus have an immediate impact on employment generation; the fact that they can usually be established rapidly and put into operation to produce quick returns; the ability of SME development to encourage the process of both inter- and intra-regional decentralization; and the notion that they may become a countervailing force against the economic power of larger enterprises. More generally, the development of SMEs is seen as accelerating the achievement of wider economic and socio-economic objectives, including poverty alleviation.

Staley and Morse (1965,p. 318) identify a `developmental approach' to SME promotion which has as its objective the creation of "economically viable enterprises which can stand on their own feet without perpetual subsidy and can make a positive contribution to the growth of real income and therefore to better living levels." This approach emphasizes the importance of efficiency in new SMEs. Small producers must be encouraged to adopt new methods, to move into new lines of production and in the longer-run, wherever feasible, be encouraged to become medium- or even large-scale producers.

Unfortunately, the empirical evidence on the relation between efficiency and firm size is rather inconclusive. Little, Mazumdar and Page (1987) reported technical efficiency does not vary systematically with firm size. A collection of studies found efficiency was lower in smaller firms (Ho, 1980; Cortes, Berry & Ishaq, 1987; Goldar, 1988). Opposite conclusions can be drawn from the twelve country studies by Liedholm and Mead (1987).

More recent concerns associated with the growth and efficiency of smaller enterprises have also become prominent (Mazumdar, 1997). Using the case of Northern Italy, Piore and Sabel (1984) have argued that small enterprises are more efficient because they have adopted a flexible specialization approach. Correspondingly, there has been growing interest in whether this model has been or can be replicated in developing countries (Schmitz, 1989; Pederson, 1994; Schmitz & Musyck, 1994; Schmitz, 1995).

The role of finance has been viewed as a critical element for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. Previous studies have highlighted the limited access to financial resources available to smaller enterprises compared to larger organizations and the consequences for their growth and development (Levy, 1993). Typically, smaller enterprises face higher transaction costs than larger enterprises in obtaining credit (Saito & Villanueva, 1981). Insufficient funding has been made available to finance working capital (Peel & Wilson, 1996). Poor management and accounting practices have hampered the ability of smaller enterprises to raise finances. Information asymmetries associated with lending to small scale borrowers have restricted the flow of finance to smaller enterprises. In spite of these claims however, some studies show a large number of small enterprises fail because of non-financial reasons (Liedholm, MacPherson & Chuta, 1994).

The purpose of this paper is to systematically examine research on the relation between finance and small and medium-sized enterprise development, and identify some of the gaps in our knowledge. While a considerable amount is known about the characteristics and behavior of small and medium-sized enterprises, this knowledge continues to be imperfect and a large number of questions remain unanswered in relation to finance and small enterprise development in developing countries. This paper discusses some of the issues raised by previous research and points to newer areas that can fruitfully be investigated.

Section two provides some general characteristics of previous research on small enterprise development and indicates the main areas of emphasis. The third section reviews some of the issues that emerge from the literature assessing the impact of financial sector reforms on small and medium-sized enterprises. A number of the underlying assumptions concerning the effects of reforms on both the demand and supply of finance are also discussed in this section. The fourth section examines the theoretical treatment of the relation between finance and small and medium-sized enterprise development and examines some of these perspectives in relation to low income countries. The concluding section prioritizes the areas where our knowledge of finance and SMEs in developing countries needs to be enhanced.

Economic research on small and medium-sized enterprises has a number of distinctive features. First, the bulk of research has predominantly been undertaken in the context of US and UK firms and has sometimes entailed comparisons with other European economies (Storey, 1995). As such, the theoretical work has assumed an institutional setting and made assumptions about the policy environment that is relevant to these economies. Second, much of the theoretical work on enterprises has related to larger firms, and in the context of smaller firms, research efforts have tended to focus on the larger small enterprises. Third, research has been divided between examinations of the macro environment within which small and medium-sized firms operate and studies on the internal workings of enterprises.

With respect to the macroeconomic environment, the work has involved: assessing the importance of aggregate demand and the role of macroeconomic policies for small enterprise development; the role played by the various formal sector and informal sector lending institutions that provide credit for the small scale sector and the importance of promotional policies in terms of providing managerial, technical and marketing information to small enterprises. With respect to internal factors, attention has concentrated on the choice of investment; employment; firm level performance and productivity; capital structure and the ownership and incentive structures for management.

SME Research on Developing Countries

There has been less work directly related to small and medium-sized enterprises in low income countries, although the geographical spread of this work has been wide, covering Africa, Asia and South America. It is also the case that the major proportion of this work has been empirically rather than theoretically focused, and it is reasonable to conclude that relatively little is known about the behavior of entrepreneurs in low income countries relative to those operating in higher income countries.

The literature on developing countries follows the same division as studies on the industrialized countries, by attempting to distinguish between the external and internal factors that affect small and medium-sized enterprise development. In terms of external factors, much of the earlier literature in the 1970s was concerned with the biases established against smaller enterprises through trade and industrial policies pursued in low income countries, and with the design of appropriate support institutions that would compensate for these so-called policy-induced biases. Schmitz (1982) identified a number of external factors that affected small enterprise development. These included lack of credit at reasonable cost, lack of working capital, poor infrastructure, and competition from larger and foreign firms. Policies of economic liberalization were introduced later, partly with the aim of reducing the bias in favor of larger enterprises. The 1980s also witnessed greater concern for the need to establish policies at the macro, meso and micro level regarding the development of smaller enterprises in low income countries (Stewart, 1990).

Earlier research on the internal workings of small and medium-sized enterprises was mainly concerned with the size of small firms and providing explanations for their growth. Staley and Morse (1965) examined the stages small firms pass through as an economy grows. They postulated several reasons why small firms in low income countries initially grow rapidly before their share of total industrial activity begins to decline. Rapid growth of small firms could be explained where (a) demand was rising as rural incomes were growing and where infrastructure costs still favored small firms locating near fragmented markets and (b) subcontracting and local assembly was common, as for example in varieties of machine-shop activities and where smaller firms produced a range of differentiated and innovative products serving small total markets. But as Anderson (1982) pointed out, these propositions had not been quantitatively tested by the early 1980s.

These early researchers were also preoccupied with investigating the extent to which small businesses create the foundation for larger company growth. As Anderson (1982,p. 923) reported:

    "firms practically always begin as very small entities, with
    low amounts of capital drawn from the savings of the owner
    or borrowings from friends and relatives; initial levels of
    employment are low, typically less than a dozen, though the
    figure varies with the nature of the business; the social
    and occupational backgrounds of the owners varies greatly;
    and the firms that expand into medium or large scale
    activities do so continually or in steps. Expansion can be
    very fast for some firms, though the growth rates appear as
    broadly distributed as their final sizes"

Anderson (1982,p. 926) concluded that the available empirical evidence suggested that a significant part of the growth of large-scale enterprises was rooted in the expansion of once small firms through the size distribution.

In low income countries, work directed towards the internal workings of enterprises has been hampered by the lack of basic data on the management and characteristics of smaller firms. Considerable effort has been expended on attempting to gather consistent and measurable information about small firms. Industrial censuses in a large number of low income countries have not been undertaken annually; they have concentrated on larger enterprises; they have only infrequently surveyed small enterprises, and have often been published with long delays. As a consequence, useful time series data for smaller enterprises from official sources are largely absent.

This has had implications for research efforts into small enterprises in low income countries in three important ways. First, a considerable amount of time has been spent on gathering baseline information on small firms. This has involved identifying universes and constructing samples, devising methods to deal with delinquent returns and editing the results in a consistent manner. Second, information collected tends to be more qualitative than quantitative because of the poor record keeping, as well as the lack of cross-referencing sources through formal channels that can be used to confirm data reliability. This tends to limit the use of the data in statistical analysis. Third, surveys are more often conducted on an ad hoc basis and at a point in time. Few compare different points in time and fewer still have attempted to use the same database for follow-up work.

As a result, time series work on the small scale sector is relatively scarce. The preoccupation with gathering baseline data and the restricted nature of the data that have eventually been collected has resulted in a preponderance of studies that describe and report on the characteristics and features of the small scale sector rather than test theoretical propositions about relationships and the expected behavior of the small firm sector. This is not to suggest that theorizing and testing of theories is completely absent in relation to work on small enterprises in low income countries. But in comparison with work in industrialized countries, or in relation to research on the behavior of larger foreign-owned enterprises in low income countries, it is demonstrably less evident.

In contrast to the earlier work, a distinctive feature of the current spate of empirical work undertaken in low income countries rests with its emphasis on attempting to identify the constraints facing the development of the small scale sector (Levy, 1993). Most surveys have sought to capture the range of factors that inhibit the growth and development of small firms. Since the early 1980s, various attempts have been made to classify constraints into those emanating from either the demand or supply side (Anderson, 1982; Little, Mazumdar & Page, 1987). On the supply side, again lack of access to investment and working capital were identified as prominent constraints. Others have included problems associated with the supply of raw materials, lack of skilled labor, insufficient training and poor infrastructure.

Three aspects relating to demand side constraints were repeatedly emphasized. The first of these is formidable competition from large and foreign enterprises causing instability in demand for the products of smaller firms and low rates of capacity utilization (Bruch & Hiemenz, 1984). Second, smaller firms often suffered from insufficient demand related to the low purchasing power of the main customers for many of their products (Harper, 1984). Third, smaller firms faced obvious disadvantages in export markets through their inability to gain marketing knowledge and supply goods on time and with sufficient quality. More recent research into factors likely to affect the export success of smaller firms has pointed to the importance of working in clusters (Schmitz, 1998). Collective efficiency is achieved by smaller firms producing differentiated products in such clusters.

A large proportion of the information on constraints has been collected from smaller firms through questionnaires asking owners and managers to give their views on either the kind of constraint they face, whether it be related to such factors as access to finance, poor managerial skills and lack of training opportunities and the high cost of inputs, or on the severity of the constraints, often ranking them on an ordinal scale. Few studies have concentrated on a particular constraint, so that finance has most often been identified as an inhibiting factor as part of a larger investigation into a wider range of variables. A recent exception has been the study by Cobham and Subramaniam (1998), which compared patterns of corporate finance in India with those found in industrialized countries in Europe. In India, they found sources of internal finance to be more significant among larger firms than smaller firms. The results in terms of the significance of financing as a constraint to development are mixed and it is difficult to draw conclusions about the subject. Interpretation is complicated because of the qualitative nature of the surveys and due to the fact that inquiries have almost exclusively been directed at firms that exist rather than following the histories of those that have eventually failed.

In summary, it cannot be denied that a considerable amount is known about the behavior of smaller firms in a range of areas relating to growth, efficiency, management, investment and employment. A smaller proportion of this work is theoretical in nature. The vast majority of studies, particularly those relating to low income countries, are empirical, and in general surveys have been used to generate basic information on smaller enterprises where official enumeration is lacking.

The dilemma facing researchers is how to maximize the use of existing surveys and forgo the need for newer inquiries that may waste resources and time by duplicating or replicating existing sources of information. What seems clear is that, in the past, there has been too distinct a separation between theoretical work that advances hypotheses about the small scale sector and empirical work that has not clearly sought to test hypotheses, but instead has been involved with describing the characteristics of small enterprises. In part, this can best be explained by the preoccupation with gathering original data that in some way has crowded out initiatives to apply the data to test theories. Alternatively, it may simply reflect data inadequacies once they had been collected. Whatever the reasons, it is apparent that work in relation to low income countries, where these data problems most evidently exist, has lacked the formalized hypotheses, data collection and testing approaches widely adopted in other branches of industrial studies.

In the 1990s, greater attention was given to assessing the impact on smaller enterprises of economic reforms introduced as part of World Bank structural adjustment programs (Cook, 1996). Overall views concerning the likely impact of these reforms on small enterprise development have varied. Whereas some claim structural adjustment has brought considerable benefits to small scale enterprises, others argue that wide-ranging constraints have frequently prevented such effects from reaching small scale enterprises. Empirical evidence in support of these claims is briefly examined in this section in relation to the financial reforms that have been implemented in low income countries over the past fifteen years.

The evidence reviewed is found in a growing but relatively small number of studies that directly attempt to measure the impact of economic liberalization and structural adjustment on the small scale industrial sector (Liedholm, 1990; Koppel, 1991; Steel & Webster, 1992; Boeh & Ocansey, 1995; Dawson, 1993; Steel, 1993, 1994; Vachani, 1994; Zake, 1994; Helmsing & Kolstee, 1993). Further evidence can be extracted from a larger number of studies that concentrate more specifically on constraints to small scale enterprise development. However, the ability to establish direct causal links is problematic owing to the paucity of time series data for measuring the impact of structural adjustment on small scale enterprise development, and to the limitations of evaluation methodologies.

Studies broadly fall into three categories: those attempting to determine the impact of measures designed to work through the market mechanism, such as interest and exchange rate policy; those that attempt to assess the overall impact of policy measures on small scale development, which generally include an array of market and non-market initiatives; and, those that review the policy environment. The former set of studies tends to rely on economic data drawn from official statistics, such as that supplied by the monetary authorities and census bureau at the establishment-level. Studies based on direct surveys, as a rule, tend to focus on whether or not the factors previously identified as constraining the development of small scale enterprises have been eased or removed. Finally, policy studies are generally broader in focus, reviewing the existing policy work and providing preions, often based upon what appears to work elsewhere. This brief review concentrates on the first category of studies, those that have attempted to evaluate the effects of specific policy changes, in this case dealing with the effects of financial reform on SME developments.

Financial Sector Liberalization

Financial liberalization is expected to result in the reallocation of domestic credit toward smaller enterprises, and the substitution of more expensive forms of credit for cheaper ones. Moreover, while nominal and real interest rises are anticipated, real returns are expected to outweigh this burden. It is also argued that the process of transferring from an administrative process of credit allocation to a market-based mechanism will not only improve the access to credit for smaller local enterprises, but will also lower the transaction costs associated with borrowing. Further, in cases where highly subsidized export credit schemes exist for larger enterprises, financial liberalization can be expected to remove this bias.

Questions have been raised in the developing country context over these predictions. Taylor (1988) argues that financial liberalization will not result in more funds for borrowing being available. As interest rates rise, funds available will be diverted out of the informal sector to the formal sector. An increased share of borrowing will take place in the formal financial sector but the total available funds between the two sectors will remain unchanged. The net result in a macro sense means there will be no new borrowing. This contradicts the McKinnon-Shaw hypothesis which argues that financial liberalization, by increasing interest rates, leads to higher savings, investment and growth. Unfortunately, the desired effects have not always materialized in the way that policy preions envisaged. As Steel (1994) highlights, high transaction costs and risks associated with small loans, a lack of collateral, and an historical orientation towards larger enterprises continue to restrict small scale enterprise access to formal credit.

The case of Ghana shows that despite financial sector reform, the strengthening of banking capabilities and the introduction of numerous financial instruments, such as the stock exchange, a venture capital company and business assistance funds, access to institutional credit for working capital and equipment continued to be a major constraint to small enterprise development (Steel & Webster, 1992). Even where demand for small scale enterprise products appeared strong, a lack of credit meant that many small enterprises did not have the capacity to respond and expand production. Interest rates of 30 per cent or more, high transactions costs and an administration and culture unfriendly to small scale enterprises contributed to the problem (Boeh & Ocansey, 1995). The Ghana study by Osei, et al., (1993) cites similar evidence; 95 per cent of the respondents depended solely on personal resources and loans from relatives and friends. Dawson's (1993) work in Ghana and Tanzania also confirms these findings; of the 672 small scale enterprises in the Ghana study, only two had received a bank loan. In Tanzania, the formal banking system was seen to be out of reach for almost all small enterprises. The World Bank reported that around 90 per cent of small enterprises surveyed indicated that access to credit was a major constraint to new investment (World Bank, 1994).

Kariuki's (1995) study of bank credit access in Kenya illustrates this point further. A survey of 89 small and medium-scale firms in manufacturing and service industries, combined with secondary information from commercial banks, found that from 1985 to 1990, the average real volume of credit for the sample firms fell, except for 1986, where there was a marginal increase of 1.5 per cent. Several deterrents to utilizing formal credit were identified. It was found that small scale borrowers were faced with higher nominal interest rates at higher inflation rates in the latter half of the 1980s. Moreover, the explicit transaction costs of borrowing were found to be high in relation to interest costs.

The cases of Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines appear to support these claims (Meier and Pilgrim, 1994). Despite specific programs aimed at small scale enterprises, only between 12 per cent and 33 per cent of those surveyed were found to have access to formal credit and, of those, the majority were from the larger end of the sector. Again, factors such as the relatively high cost of processing small loans, the need for high collateral, and bureaucratic procedures were seen to be restricting lending to small scale enterprises. The taxation policies that were also examined had little impact on small scale enterprises, particularly as many of those surveyed were found not to be paying taxes.

Similar evidence regarding the lack of importance given by small scale enterprises to tax policies is found in Southern Africa, including Niger, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Malawi, and Zimbabwe (Mead, 1994). Studies from these locations found little concern for government regulations, except from those enterprises in targeted locations and specific sectors such as food processing. Instead, the greatest concern for the majority of those surveyed was the lack of access to working capital, credit and finance.

Issues Raised in Research on Developing Countries

This brief review of empirical literature on finance and SME development in low income countries does raise a number of issues concerning the underlying assumptions in these types of investigations. These assumptions relate both to the theoretical and institutional context in which propositions about the nature of SME finance are being examined. Three issues would appear to be particularly relevant to the current analysis of SME finance in developing countries.

The first concerns the macroeconomic context in which financial reforms have been implemented. The second concerns the assumptions implicit in models of credit supply, in particular bank credit to SMEs in low income countries. The third is related to the relationship between corporate governance and enterprise finance that is assumed in studies of low income countries.

Macroeconomic Context. Much of the analysis of the impact of financial liberalization on SMEs has been done in the context of a simple interpretation of the process of financial repression and liberalization. The notion behind financial repression was developed by Goldsmith (1969), McKinnon (1973) and Shaw (1973). These authors concluded that there was a close relationship between financial development and economic growth. In their view, improved financial intermediation would increase the supply of credit and result in greater investment. Government intervention to control the pricing and allocation of credit, referred to as financial repression, would restrict financial development. This kind of analysis provided much of the theoretical underpinning for the introduction of financial reforms in low income countries in the 1980s and 1990s. It was argued that removing controls on interest rates and credit allocation would increase savings and improve the efficiency of investment.

However, both the experience of financial development and new theoretical insights linked to endogenous growth theory suggest financial markets play a different role in relation to growth than that portrayed by the so-called financial repression school. Financial repression in low income countries has led banks to underinvest in information capital (Caprio, 1994). Other economic reforms, such as trade liberalization, may have rendered uneconomic much of the information capital that is possessed by banks, which is, in any event, limited in low income countries (Griffith-Jones, 1998). As a result, banks are likely to lend relatively little, particularly to SMEs, which will ultimately reduce growth. Simply raising real interest rates as part of financial reform will not overcome this problem. In this situation, measures are required that reduce the cost of information capital to the financial sector. These include a wide range of measures to improve legal structures, audit processes, and accounting systems. These measures can be considered as pre-conditions for successful liberalization and have largely been bypassed by the repression school when designing financial reforms.

Further, credit rationing may continue to persist after financial liberalization to the detriment of lending to smaller enterprises. It has been argued that even in competitive credit markets, information asymmetries continue to keep up the costs of assessing the riskiness of investment projects, which are raised with interest rates, causing borrowers to seek projects with higher rates of return (Stiglitz and Weiss, 1981).

Supply of Finance. It is evident that banks play a key role in the financial system by pooling the liquidity risk of depositors and investing a large proportion of their funds in more liquid, but more productive projects (Griffith-Jones, 1998). In much of the financial literature, the principal-agent model has been used to rationalize the low level of bank lending to SMEs relative to larger enterprises. As developed, the application of principal-agent theory argues that banks have less perfect information on smaller firms than larger firms (costs of gathering this information are higher) and, as a consequence, lending to smaller firms is riskier. The observed outcome from this analysis is less lending to small firms relative to larger ones. In turn, lending institutions are likely to demand higher risk premiums.

In the developing country context, however, it may be argued that banks have better information to assess the riskiness of an investment than the small firm itself. This is because they are continually lending to small firms over extended periods of time and have acquired sufficient insights to be able to make sensible and sound judgments over lending decisions. Banks may have more experience about a small venture's survival prospects than they have information on larger firms, since the latter may be in a better position to conceal and manipulate information to their own advantage. Measuring the extent of information asymmetries is intrinsically difficult. Nevertheless, the low income country case may challenge the applicability of principal-agent analysis in terms of the conventional forms established in an industrialized country context, and lead to new insights in which lending institutions, rather than being seen as villains, are acting in the interests of small firm development. There is some empirical support for this argument from examining lending behavior of indigenous banks in Africa (Harvey, 1996).

In low income countries it is widely recognized that an imbalance exists between the demand and supply for finance, with the former exceeding the latter. An initial response to this situation was to adopt a supply-led approach by developing specialized development finance institutions that would provide funding for the fixed investment requirements of enterprises of all sizes. Financial liberalization and critical evaluations of these institutions have transferred attention to the development of capital markets as alternative sources of long-term investment financing. Hence, an active and broad-based capital market is expected to mitigate the acute shortage of term loans and equity financing (Nissanke, 1996).

In the context of low income countries, however, capital markets take a long time to develop and deepen and do not necessarily work in predicted ways (Singh and Weisse, 1998). Often, the lack of financial instruments and the number of participants restricts the capacity for financial deepening. In low income countries, many family-based indigenous enterprises are reluctant to change their corporate status. The development of capital markets is predicated on introducing efficient and effective mechanisms of regulation and supervision to avoid malpractices. If these are not in place, then the markets will fail to assess any intermediate risks appropriately, so that new capital does not emerge. As a consequence, bank finance is likely to remain the main source of finance for SMEs.

Corporate Governance and Enterprise Finance. It is clear that the Anglo-Saxon model of financing enterprises, with a heavy reliance on bond and equity markets, is less relevant to smaller enterprises and does not conform to patterns of SME financing in low-income countries where internally generated funds and bank finance are predominantly used. The relation between bank finance and SME development is frequently considered in terms of the premium paid for bank finance and the borrowers net worth (Gertler and Rose, 1994). Smaller enterprises pay higher premiums for bank finance where collateral is lacking and information to evaluate risks is imperfect. It is generally argued that borrowers' net worth measured by current assets and potential future earnings is positively correlated with economic development, while premiums attached to finance are negatively correlated to an enterprise's net worth. As a consequence, the problems of financing SMEs ought to decrease with economic development over time.

Clearly, the conditions required for easing the financing problems for SMEs in low income countries are not readily met. Economic growth is not assured and the banking system may be weak. Some elements of the supply problem are catered for through innovative forms of informal sector financing, but these are unlikely to be sufficient to meet the fixed and working capital requirements of growing SMEs. This is even the case in Asia, where considerable specialization in financial services between formal and informal sectors takes place (Biggs, 1991).

As already indicated, most of the theoretical work on small firm finance and the behavior of institutions that lend to small scale enterprises has been undertaken in the industrial countries (Chittenden, Hall & Hutchinson, 1996). A large proportion of this work has tended to concentrate on firms that, in terms of size, lie toward the upper end of the spectrum, where the range of ownership and financing options becomes greater.

In general, two areas of research have become prominent. First, there are studies that have attempted to examine the implications of different financial structures found in different sized firms. These studies are based, in part, on survey work that has attempted to catalog the range of finance sources available to smaller firms and to examine their implications for growth and investment. In firms where forms of formal equity holding have been employed, this work has been extended to incorporate a number of distributional issues concerning income flows to owners and managers and inside and outside shareholders (Myers, 1998). Much of this analysis has been set within the work of a principal-agent approach. The conditions under which each respective interest operates are examined with reference to the internal incentive systems that emerge in firms and to the external factors, such as the macroeconomic policy environment and the development of legal systems, that offer potential protection to outside investors in firms (La Porter, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer & Vishny, 1998).

Second, there has been a concentration of theoretically based studies examining the behavior of various lending institutions as suppliers of finance to small and medium-sized enterprises. Typically, for small enterprises, these have involved models of lending behavior based on an agency work. Central to the hypotheses that have emerged from this body of research is the notion that information asymmetries lead to sub-optimal flows of finance available to smaller firms compared to larger firms. Imperfect information can lead to restricted flows of finance whether the problem lies within the firm, through poor record management, or in banks, through the relatively high costs associated with gathering information on smaller firms (Binks, Ennew and Reed, 1992). There is considerable debate over whether or not banks in low income countries have a comparative advantage in lending to smaller firms precisely because they may possess an accumulated knowledge concerning the riskiness of investing that places them in a position to make optimal rather than sub-optimal lending decisions. Building relationships with banks increases the information flow between lender and borrower (Berger & Udell, 1995).

The emphasis on the relative lack of theoretical work ought not to imply that the stock of knowledge gained about finance and smaller enterprises through empirical work is not valuable. Considerable insights have been gleaned from a wide range of empirical investigations (Hall, 1992; Kaplan & Zingales, 1995; Cosh & Hughes, 1996). In terms of work in the UK, some general conclusions have emerged and are summarized in Table 1. In order to enable comparisons, the likely situation in low income countries is presented on the right hand side of the table.

The general conclusions shown in the left hand column in Table I are drawn primarily from work in the UK, and have either been derived from hypotheses that have been subjected to empirical testing or have resulted from direct observation and measurement. Theories have been developed to explain them. Most of this kind of analysis continues to be undertaken in the context of the industrialized countries, which raises a number of issues concerning its relevance and applicability to the low income country case.

It was indicated earlier that the research into the relationship between enterprise finance and development is limited in the context of low income countries. An attempt is made in Table 2 to select a number of approaches relating to small enterprise finance and examine the elements that may contribute to the development of research in low income countries. Column 1 provides a summary of each theoretical perspective while columns 2-5 respectively outline the implications for the financing and capital structure of small firms, the implications for their growth, the hypotheses that can be tested, and finally the factors that need to be considered when applying the approaches to low income countries. The approaches summarized in Table 2 incorporate results from empirically-based studies (Bates, 1971); life cycle models (Weston & Brigham, 1981); pecking order approaches (Myers, 1984); principal agent models (Jensen & Meckling, 1976); transaction cost hypotheses and models of financial sector reform.

Simply examining the way in which the demand or supply of finance changes in response to policy changes may not be enough to indicate what kinds of enterprises will survive and contribute to economic growth. A useful perspective may be adopted by attempting to implant financial elements into an approach adopted by Dawson (1993) in an earlier study of Ghana and Tanzania. In this study, an attempt was made to identify a set of characteristics embodied in small enterprises that were either favored or disfavored by the adjustment process. Table 3 indicates the importance of technical and technological factors in determining the way in which small enterprises are likely to respond to structural adjustment. The relatively more technologically sophisticated enterprises appear to have been better able to upgrade their products and services to a level where they are able to develop linkages with the faster growing sectors of the economy. Further, they have been able to overcome scale constraints by finding new so-called niche markets more suited to their economies of flexibility and serving an import-substitution . In contrast, enterprises that were technologically weaker tended to remain dependent on low income groups for their main markets, where purchasing power may have been declining under adjustment.

What this type of analysis and the comparison between Ghana and Tanzania clearly pointed out, however, was not the importance of the cross-country differences in the response to adjustment processes, but variations between different types of enterprises within the countries. As pointed out above, some enterprises were better able to respond to the changes created in the policy environment than others. In this respect the creation of an environment favoring small scale enterprise development may not be sufficient to explain why some enterprises improve their performance and others fail. The response of small scale enterprises to structural adjustment reforms is more likely to be related to a wide range of factors, including internal enterprise characteristics, the level of development of the economy's infrastructure, and the institutional and political work that reinforces the sector's development.

This review has pointed to the weaknesses and gaps in our knowledge concerning the relation between finance and SME development. At least four strands of research can be identified that will contribute to a better understanding of the financing needs of SMEs and the ways to deliver financial services to them.

First, research is needed on the forms of finance used by small and medium-sized enterprises and made available by lending institutions and investors. In particular, a clear picture is required of the financing differences between firms of different sizes and the differences in financing in relation to types of ownership structures. Cross-country and regional differences may also exist in these respects. Second, research is required into the relation between different financial forms and firm-level performance. Existing research on `small size and performance has not isolated the importance of different forms of finance. Methods should be devised to examine the relationship between different financial structures of firms and a range of performance measures (including output, productivity, employment, and survival rates).

Third, research is required relating to the behavior of small and medium-sized firms with different forms of finance. We need to predict how different forms of finance will affect the allocation of profits between income (dividend flows), investment and consumption and their effect on other forms of expenditure relating to innovation, marketing and the development of human resources through training. In particular, the links need to be made between different forms of finance and the impact of small firm development on poverty alleviation. Fourth, research is required on the supply side of finance. This work should focus on formal and informal sector lending institutions and savers, and the macroeconomic environment, including economic policies, promotional policies, and the role played by private, international and non-governmental organizations.

很少在博里写除了情爱随感和时尚书籍之类其他的东西，爱情占据了彦页分类里绝大的空间，次之就是一些随感，随意而感。今天要特地写一下我尊敬的几位老师，文字能代替任何精致的礼物，言语能抵上任何华丽的赞词，所以在教师节的今天，打一通电话，写一段小文，也许就是心底深处的祝福了吧。

一. 老陈老师
年纪最大的老头，出于礼貌，置于第一位。大学里的系主任、教授、生产管理老师、我的论文指导老师很多称谓来形容和老陈的关系。

昨天“加油好男儿”尘埃落定，东方卫视在最后起升降机时的犹豫已经完全曝露了如今商业电视台的色彩了，到底是顺应民意，还是黑幕徐降，最终的指针让DFWS刹那那个红色的标志阴暗下来，至于变成灰色还是黑色，因感而异。

关于原则我从来不会改变自己最初的哲迷和如今笔亲的身份，也不会在中间夹杂其他的称号，晓波，天使高高在上，仰望欣赏即可，没有必要成为菠菜狂热只会给他带去负累，所以一直和灼远远看着晓波用他无声的世界抗击着我们中国整个花花污秽的社会，他用手语告诉人们言语的多余，他用眼神传达人们善良的真诚，他用微笑展示人们内心的温暖。连续四次以上人气王不二人选，总决赛里不到1个小时，票数飙升30万以上，身上带有八枚左右的好男儿徽章，包括最后的建飞，这样的晓波，基数应该如磐石般稳固，可是最后却输给了唱歌微微走音，在内地拥有相对较少喜欢西藏观众的蒲巴甲。

其实失败并不是偶然，胜利却是必然。在灼家里和他父母一起看了近四个小时的比赛，总结有几方疑惑。为什么蒲巴甲在第一轮PK时有他的VCR播放，有长达十分钟的场外拉票，五位喜欢他的观众一个个地说过来而晓波连VCR也没有？为什么没人说蒲巴甲的《男人哭吧不是罪》唱的不完美，而却有刻薄的评委一边又一边地说晓波不适合演艺圈？为什么最后没有票数公布？为什么升降机在观众和主持人喊零时不马上升起，而拖延了十秒以上？为什么连晓波获亚军的镜头和感谢的话都没有？为什么晓波空手而来空手而回，所有十强选手都抱个所谓的金牌回去，晓波为什么什么都没有？为什么大众评审要是各国人，难道DFWS给所有外国人都配备了翻译，还是根本不用翻译，评审只凭眼睛来判断up还是down呢？为什么在高晓松准备把小松直接淘汰掉的时候，胖子要插出来及时制止，而当吴建飞关键大众投票时，又插入了广告，广告的中间他们做了什么？

质疑过后几点感叹。媒体怎么就不能对晓波宽容一点，就连我最喜欢的报纸都会有那些字眼和反问句来描述晓波，就因为他不能配合媒体，只会呆呆在一个角落安静地坐着，这样就犯着媒体了，惹毛他们了？如果自己的亲人是聋哑人，还会不宽容么？感叹下高晓松那句看似关爱的话，晓波不适合进入娱乐圈，怕那份善良纯真会消失。怎么娱乐圈里就不能有善良的人了，怎么善良的人进来娱乐圈还破坏了他的不善良性了，高先生，你就是这样把自己贬低成那样的，那后面又何必让自己冠冕成清华的学子呢，清华出的人不也进了垃圾桶般的娱乐圈了，难道清华就培养垃圾的？晓波的努力和困难还值得感叹一下，别人在那里“男人男人哭吧哭吧”哼哼，或者混在其他好男儿唱歌高手里混个合音就可以了，晓波怎么办？舞蹈亚，排练亚，管他有几场舞，管他难度，管他音乐节奏听不到，只要给我跳出来跳好了就可以了，不然你拿什么和别人比，翻译伯伯的词不达意，语句比起其他好男儿简直拙劣不堪，而晓波不卑不亢，在那个无声的世界里，只有舞蹈时的节奏，老师的手势，还有妈妈的期许，家庭的负担，他承受的远比任何一个选手多。他说，请不要给投同情票，没想到成为媒体的话柄，不给他投同情票，还能给他投什么。是啊，请问如果是你，你会说，“大家都给我投票吧，我那么可怜，都给我投同情票吧”，是么？不然的话，就会被人说成虚伪。“逢宋必败”让晓波失去了很多该有的观众，但是为什么他身上却有那么多好男儿的寄托呢。大家要问残疾人干吗要参加选秀，其实为了赚钱是最功利却最实际的目的，建飞的穷苦家庭，晓波和他妈妈的疾病，为了钱用了这个特殊的方式，不偷不抢不出卖肉体和灵魂，我们有什么资格否定他参赛的动机。

现在的人就是太势利太功利，人性中的一些温存和善良的特点渐渐被金钱权利所抹灭，黑色的选秀活动和宋晓波的白有鲜明的反差，好男儿，身残志不残的好男儿，不畏蜚语和压力坚持努力在外界无法想象的困难中发挥到最好的好男儿，善良如天使的好男儿，不用冠军，你只要肯定。

晓波，空着手来，空着手回去，虽然遗憾，却潇洒和不带走一点虚伪和世俗的污秽。乐哉乐哉。

在枯竭的残寰，
我看到了新芽，
那是繁衍的伟大；

在沮丧的天空，
我听到了振翅，
那是欲欲的坚持；

在荒芜的角落，
我闻到了芬芳，
那是悸动的愉悦；

在久旱的大地，
我尝到了甘露，
那是自然的恩赐；

在险峻的峭壁，
我摸到了青松，
那是骇人的毅力；

在混沌的当口，
我感到了曙光，
那是生命的希望；

殆尽。而后逢生。

最近不是初恋额事体，就是胃痛，要么就是魔力25级了，再来就是俄罗斯到神匠了，忙得来七荤八素的，连脑袋里的论文两个字都没了，有愧老陈，周六去学校忏悔了。忙归忙，还是看了点书和几部电影，有必要做下笔记，证明自己曾经看过，免得流逝于记忆里。

1. 《X战警3：最后据点》 《X-Men: The Last Stand》
      看1记得是在很多年前的事了，依稀记得蓝额，白额女子，光头教授和狼人，这几个名称和样貌，还有大致的变异人的剧情。跳过2，直接看3的时候有点担心，怕会接不上去，可是途中这种担忧就被瓦解。
      动作和特技都很华丽和激动人心，情节有点新意，除了正邪两派变异人，X3中加入了第三排，一心想消灭所有变种人的人类。特制的针剂能让变异人瞬间法力消失，也鼓动着所有非正常人回归正常人的轨道。教授的死还是让我震惊得忘记了简的残忍，最终的结局总算让我舒了口气，和善的教授像普通人一样和人下棋，学校能够正常继续下去，该回来的战警都已经回来，人类最终放弃了消灭变异人的想法。
      依然喜欢里面几个男子在面临最终战争时表现出来的邪邪的笑容和胜利时的自信，懵懂的爱情线索穿插其中，恰到好处，是值得推荐的。

2. 《零下八度》 《Eight Below》
      从午夜12点看到近三点的残害我睡眠的罪魁祸首，看完之后的睡眠6个小时里还是在做着关于感动的美梦。一直以为只有中国的军犬才最可歌可泣可敬佩，没想到这个由真实故事改变的电影还是让我大为改观。已经算是有点老的片子了，等大碟版出来，一等等两个月，总算等待是值得的。八条雪橇让我疼爱得有想买一条的冲动，不过冲动止步于冲动。
      人与狗的感情从小定格在中国电影《军犬》中那条小黑的形象上，对于前段时间的日本电影《小Q》，完全不放于眼里，打心底里不喜欢日本人的伪善，连对狗都是一样。还是抱着试试看和些许不屑的心态看了外国的狗，结果与想象大相径庭。八条不同性格的雪橇像八个鲜活的人物形象，有鲜明的个性，不同的人生，却有惊人一致的勇敢和忠贞，那是人类几乎所没有的品格。在金钱下屈膝，在权利下折腰，人类带着面具，虚伪地苟活于世上，与那些雪橇和军犬相比，我们，实在太渺小。

3. 《超人归来》 《Superman Returns》
      美国人喜欢塑造真正man的荧幕形象，要说其中最完美男人，莫过于超人。他无所无能，重情重意，坚韧不拔，一个随时可以从青蛙变王子，从呆头鹅变超超人的男子，惹得惊艳四座，尖叫连连。女生青睐，孩子崇拜，男子羡慕，完美男人就此诞生。超人成为美国历史上最经典的男人形象，一部又一部的电影被重拍翻拍，《归来》里主角坚毅的棱角，魁梧的体魄再次吸引我的眼球大于故事情节，女主角漂亮的程度和《珍珠港》里的美女有得一拼，不过最近听说她厌食症，在拍《超人》时已经瘦的只能穿肥大的衣服遮掩了，不知道脸蛋再瘦下去，好莱坞是否还接受的了。
      大碟版还没出来，我就忍不住看了，所以极差的对白翻译给整体感觉打了折扣，说实话没怎么明白超人到底是如何失掉水晶变得功能尽失的，也没明白怎么从铁定死了又复活的，还没明白他最后交代他儿子接替他的工作，那他的儿子是否也具备超人的能力呢？好多疑问，可是还是提不起再看一边的兴趣，等大碟出来以后，买了收藏再和灼一起看一边吧。