"Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) make up an estimated 90 percent of businesses and over 50 percent of employment worldwide" (IFC). A key issue then for development and cutting poverty is figuring out ways for these small firms to increase their profits and grow.  

This weekend IPA is kicking off a new research initiative with a conference at Yale University, looking at some of the challenges facing Small and medium enterprises in developing countries, and how these challenges might be addressed.

Participants ranging from across top universities, charitable foundations, social enterprise, international organisations and the private sector will discuss topics such as access to finance, access to markets, and human capital. The aim of the initiative is to come up with innovative potential solutions and develop a set of new research questions which can help us to understand what works and what doesn’t work in supporting small businesses.

More notes to come after the conference this weekend, so stay tuned.

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UPDATE: Comments here from attendee Brian Trelstad, Chief Investment Officer at Acumen Fund.