Small and medium-sized enterprises in Russia: In search of the employment growth factors

During crises, discussions about the sources of employment intensify, including that of entrepreneurship. The growth of employment in the entrepreneurial sector is one of the national goals, which should be achieved up until 2030. However, the selection and verification of support measures requires the determination of the underlying growth factors. The paper proposes an econometric model, where the dependent variable is the growth of employment in the SME sector in the Russian regions over the previous decade. According to the results of the estimations, the creation of new companies is significant: one new enterprise creates on average 10 new jobs in small and medium-sized businesses, while a technological startup creates 60 new jobs next year. Employment growth in the last decade is higher in regions with growing incomes of the population, with good access to banking capital and large markets, and with low criminal risks. Increasing Internet accessibility contributes to the growth of the business sector; whereas nationalization of the economy is an obstacle. Employment is growing in SMEs in agricultural regions and decreasing in the centers of production. The efforts of the authorities should aim at lowering the barriers to market entry for the new companies, increasing access to capital, markets and the Internet, and stimulating the digitalization of the economy.