Cohort 2 of the MEGA Program: Basic Economic Facts, 2006

The MEGA Program is funded by the United States Agency for International Development, and implemented by the Urban Institute from Washington DC. Its objective is, in short, to enable local governments and local businesses in Serbia to foster economic growth not only in the participating municipalities but also, through the effect of keeping up with them, in all others. The eleven municipalities that joined the Program in its second stage, referred to as Cohort 2, exhibited a weak economic performance in 2006, as the baseline year. In comparison with Serbia, the majority of these municipalities had a lower share of women in employment (in total, and by enterprises and entrepreneurs), and a higher share of women in unemployment. The unemployment rates in total and for women in particular, were high everywhere. Only for two municipalities were they lower than for Serbia. At last but not the least, new enterprises and new entrepreneurs were established, for the most part, in the wholesale and retail trade – which is not crucial for the economic growth of impoverished areas.