I Key Background Issues -- 1. What are the Main Barriers to SME Growth and Development in South-East Europe? -- 2. Social Capital and SME Development -- 3. The Unofficial Economy and the State in Transition -- II Finance -- 4. Local Financial Systems and Sustainable SME Development in South-East Europe: Lessons from Hungary, Macedonia and Slovenia -- 5. Bank Lending to SME's in Croatia: a Few Things We Know -- 6. Micro-Credit in Transition Economies: the Case of Bosnia-Herzegovina -- III Networks and Clusters -- 7. Public Policy on Enterprise Clusters and Networks -- 8. Cluster Policy as an Aspect of a Pro-Active Industrial Policy in Slovenia -- 9. Promoting Supplier Clusters: the Case of the Shipbuilding Industry in The Primorska-Goranska County in Croatia -- IV Integrated Policy Support -- 10. SME Development Policy in Albania: Developing Support Institutions in an Unstable Environment -- 11. Barriers to SME Growth in the Republic of Macedonia -- 12. Small Business Development Policy in Croatia: Design and Implementation.

Since the end of the Kosovo war in 1999, increasing attention has been paid to the problems of economic development and reconstruction in South-East Europe. In a context of limited resources, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have a key role to play in creating jobs and building a dynamic entrepreneurial economy. Small Enterprise Development In South-East Europe presents important findings from recent empirical research on key factors, which hinder sustainable SME growth in South-East Europe. Finance is identified as a critical barrier to growth, and the role of commercial banks, micro-finance institutions and credit cooperatives in assisting growth is addressed. Yet finance alone is not enough. A rebuilding of social capital, a reduction of the unofficial or grey economy, and the promotion of inter-firm networks and clusters are also of vital importance in promoting sustainable growth. The book concludes with critical analyses of SME policies in Albania, Croatia, and Macedonia, countries which hitherto have received little attention in the literature. Small Enterprise Development in South-East Europe will be of great interest to policy makers, business consultants, and academics and post-graduate students working on economic development and reconstruction in South-East Europe.