Technical efficiency performance of metal fabricating small to medium enterprises (Smes) in Zimbabwe: implications for agricultural development

SMEs are a fundamental part of the economic fabric in developing countries and they play a crucial role in furthering growth, innovation and prosperity. In Zimbabwe, the SME sector has been reckoned by smallholders; farmers, miners etc. as it supplies intermediate technologies to resource-poor small...

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Main Authors: Makate, Clifton, Siziba, Shephard, Hanyani-Mlambo, Benjamin T., Sadomba, Z, Mango, Nelson, Makate, M
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/57005
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author Makate, Clifton
Siziba, Shephard
Hanyani-Mlambo, Benjamin T.
Sadomba, Z
Mango, Nelson
Makate, M
author_browse Hanyani-Mlambo, Benjamin T.
Makate, Clifton
Makate, M
Mango, Nelson
Sadomba, Z
Siziba, Shephard
author_facet Makate, Clifton
Siziba, Shephard
Hanyani-Mlambo, Benjamin T.
Sadomba, Z
Mango, Nelson
Makate, M
author_sort Makate, Clifton
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description SMEs are a fundamental part of the economic fabric in developing countries and they play a crucial role in furthering growth, innovation and prosperity. In Zimbabwe, the SME sector has been reckoned by smallholders; farmers, miners etc. as it supplies intermediate technologies to resource-poor small scale players. This paper employs a stochastic frontier production function and technical inefficiency effects model to measure and explain the technical efficiency of informal metal fabricating firms in Zimbabwe. Analysis relied on cross-sectional firm level data from a survey conducted on informal metal fabricating SMEs between July 2012 and April 2013. Average technical efficiency was found to be low at 51.1%, indicating a high degree of technical inefficiency in the production process. Results also show that the production process is predominantly labor intensive. Moreover, technical inefficiency effects model reveals that age of firm, firm location, market information access, Information Communication Technology (ICT) use and experience are key factors contributing to firm technical efficiency. The paper recommends that government should focus more on creating an enabling environment to foster SME growth, promote technology adoption, and encourage the development of infrastructure and facilities suitable to the enhancement of business operations of SMEs to improve their technical efficiency.
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publishDate 2014
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spelling CGSpace570052025-03-13T09:44:28Z Technical efficiency performance of metal fabricating small to medium enterprises (Smes) in Zimbabwe: implications for agricultural development Makate, Clifton Siziba, Shephard Hanyani-Mlambo, Benjamin T. Sadomba, Z Mango, Nelson Makate, M informal sector agriculture sector informal agricultura república de zimbabwe SMEs are a fundamental part of the economic fabric in developing countries and they play a crucial role in furthering growth, innovation and prosperity. In Zimbabwe, the SME sector has been reckoned by smallholders; farmers, miners etc. as it supplies intermediate technologies to resource-poor small scale players. This paper employs a stochastic frontier production function and technical inefficiency effects model to measure and explain the technical efficiency of informal metal fabricating firms in Zimbabwe. Analysis relied on cross-sectional firm level data from a survey conducted on informal metal fabricating SMEs between July 2012 and April 2013. Average technical efficiency was found to be low at 51.1%, indicating a high degree of technical inefficiency in the production process. Results also show that the production process is predominantly labor intensive. Moreover, technical inefficiency effects model reveals that age of firm, firm location, market information access, Information Communication Technology (ICT) use and experience are key factors contributing to firm technical efficiency. The paper recommends that government should focus more on creating an enabling environment to foster SME growth, promote technology adoption, and encourage the development of infrastructure and facilities suitable to the enhancement of business operations of SMEs to improve their technical efficiency. 2014 2015-03-10T20:36:07Z 2015-03-10T20:36:07Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/57005 en Open Access Makate, Clifton; Siziba, Shephard; Hanyani-Mlambo, Benjamin T.; Sadomba, Zvakanyorwa; Mango, Nelson; Makate, Marshall. 2014. Technical efficiency performance of metal fabricating small to medium enterprises (Smes) in Zimbabwe: Implications for agricultural development. Researchjournali's Journal of Entrepreneurship 2(8): 1-16.
spellingShingle informal sector
agriculture
sector informal
agricultura
república de zimbabwe
Makate, Clifton
Siziba, Shephard
Hanyani-Mlambo, Benjamin T.
Sadomba, Z
Mango, Nelson
Makate, M
Technical efficiency performance of metal fabricating small to medium enterprises (Smes) in Zimbabwe: implications for agricultural development
title Technical efficiency performance of metal fabricating small to medium enterprises (Smes) in Zimbabwe: implications for agricultural development
title_full Technical efficiency performance of metal fabricating small to medium enterprises (Smes) in Zimbabwe: implications for agricultural development
title_fullStr Technical efficiency performance of metal fabricating small to medium enterprises (Smes) in Zimbabwe: implications for agricultural development
title_full_unstemmed Technical efficiency performance of metal fabricating small to medium enterprises (Smes) in Zimbabwe: implications for agricultural development
title_short Technical efficiency performance of metal fabricating small to medium enterprises (Smes) in Zimbabwe: implications for agricultural development
title_sort technical efficiency performance of metal fabricating small to medium enterprises smes in zimbabwe implications for agricultural development
topic informal sector
agriculture
sector informal
agricultura
república de zimbabwe
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/57005
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