Pragmatic Approaches to Evaluating SME Policies and Programmes

Most countries, whether developed or developing, offer government-provided, or government-subsidised, policies and programmes to assist SMEs. Evaluation of policies and programmes can serve many purposes including: continuous improvement; demonstrating value for money; quantifying tangible outcomes; strengthening the case for continued funding; or helping recruitment of enthusiastic participants, partners or sponsors. Evaluation of the benefits of these policies and programmes is complicated by three common challenges: lack of clearly defined objectives; difficulties linking cause and effect; and problems deciding and resourcing the most suitable level of evaluation activities.