Drivers of SME performance: a holistic and multivariate approach
采用整体多变量建模方法，整合宏观经济因素与企业内部特征及战略，分析中小企业增长的驱动因素，发现宏观经济环境既直接也间接影响企业增长。
To examine the drivers of small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) growth, we adopt a holistic multivariate modelling approach, integrating macroeconomic determinants with the internal (firm characteristics and firm strategy) drivers more commonly investigated in firm growth studies. Utilising such an extended set of variables addresses a gap in the extant firm growth literature in relation to external growth factors, offering novel insights on the seeming randomness of firm growth. Our system generalised method of moments estimation results indicate that the macroeconomic environment influences firm growth both directly and indirectly. Based on the study of manufacturing SME growth in Ireland, our findings provide evidence on the integrated effects of macroeconomic conditions, firm characteristics and firm strategy for SME growth. They also highlight, from a theoretical perspective, the need to acknowledge the multidimensional nature of SME growth.