Study on the Constraints Facing the Development of Micro and Small Enterprises, 2014 - Egypt

Abstract
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This survey field data was collected, from rural governorates in Egypt, on Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in the context of a project, funded by ERF, on "The Nexus between Informal Credit and Informal Labor for MSEs in Egypt".

MSEs in Egypt still rely heavily on informal credit. They also rely on informal labor to a great extent. In the meantime, MSEs' access to formal finance has been facing increasing restrictions, due to adopting more cautious lending strategies by both public and private banks.

This project aims, through the collected dataset, at examining the relationship between informal credit and the formalization of MSEs, in general, and, in particular, their employment characteristics. To do that, it attempts to find out what effect informal credit has on the performance, risk and return to capital of MSEs and how it affects the employment profile and the use of informal labor. It also looks into whether informal credit provides a disincentive for the formalization of MSEs and whether the sources of informal credit have different effects on the formalization of MSEs.or to a great extent.

The survey was tested in several governorates, but was eventually implemented in the Gharbeya and Bani Suef governorates. Administering the survey was often interrupted because of security reasons.
It is also worth noting that this survey is not weighted.

Geographic coverage
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The survey was implemented in the Gharbeya and Bani Suef governorates.

Analysis unit
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- MSEs

Kind of data
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Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure
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A two-stage sampling procedure was adopted.
In the first stage, a convenience sampling was used to choose localities (governorates and cities/towns). Convenience sampling is a non-probability
sampling technique that is used by the researcher because the sample is easily accessible. The main weakness of convenience sampling is that the sample could be biased and does not represent the whole population. However despite this weakness, real world restrictions may justify using convenience sampling. One of these restrictions is the fact that the research emphasis is on hidden population. Hidden population means that the population cannot be studied using standard sampling methods due to lacking of a sampling frame, which is a list of all population members.
MSEs were considered a hidden population because, at the time, there was no available data on the micro and small enterprises in Egypt.
Accordingly, convenience sampling was used and Tanta was chosen because it meets specific practical standards, for instance, ease of access and geographical closeness.

In the second stage, a simple random sampling was used to choose the establishments from these localities. Simple random sampling means that every element of the population has equal opportunity to be selected in the sample. The researchers walked the streets and approached the enterprises randomly for an onsite interview using the questionnaire. Different types of enterprises with different economic activities were targeted to construct a sample that embraced an appropriate range and to allow a better representation of the wider population.

Two economic criteria were set to choose the establishments. The first criterion was the nature of the activity whether it was agricultural, manufacturing, commercial or a services enterprise. The second criterion was the number of workers in each establishment. If the establishment has up to 5 workers, we consider it a micro enterprise while the establishment that has between 6 to 20 workers is considered to be small enterprise.

Mode of data collection
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Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument
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One questionnaire form, in both Arabic and English, consisting of 12 Parts was designed to collect the survey data.

摘要
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本调研收集了来自埃及农村地区的数据，涉及在埃及农村地区微型和小型企业（MSEs）的背景下，由埃及复兴基金会（ERF）资助的“非正式信贷与非正式劳动与埃及微型和小型企业之间的联系”项目。
埃及的微型和小型企业仍然高度依赖非正式信贷，并在很大程度上依赖非正式劳动。与此同时，微型和小型企业获取正规金融的渠道正面临越来越多的限制，这主要是由于公共和私人银行采取了更为谨慎的贷款策略。
本项目旨在通过收集的数据库，探讨非正式信贷与微型和小型企业正规化之间的关系，特别是它们的就业特征。为此，项目试图查明非正式信贷对微型和小型企业绩效、风险和资本回报的影响，以及它对就业状况和非正式劳动使用的 影响。此外，项目还探讨非正式信贷是否为微型和小型企业的正规化提供了阻碍，以及非正式信贷的来源对微型和小型企业正规化的影响是否存在差异。
该调研在多个地区进行了测试，但最终在加哈比亚和班尼苏韦夫地区实施。由于安全原因，进行调研时常受到干扰。
值得注意的是，本调研并未进行加权。
地理覆盖范围
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调研在加哈比亚和班尼苏韦夫地区实施。
分析单元
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- 微型和小型企业
数据类型
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样本调查数据 [ssd]
抽样程序
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采用了两阶段抽样程序。
在第一阶段，使用了便利抽样来选择地区（省份和城市/镇）。便利抽样是一种非概率抽样技术，研究者因其易于获取样本而采用。便利抽样的主要缺点是样本可能存在偏差，并不能代表整个总体。尽管存在这一缺点，现实世界的限制可能证明使用便利抽样是合理的。其中一种限制是研究重点在于隐蔽群体。隐蔽群体指的是由于缺乏抽样框架——即所有群体成员的名单——而无法使用标准抽样方法进行研究的群体。微型和小型企业被视为隐蔽群体，因为在当时，关于埃及微型和小企业的数据并不存在。因此，使用了便利抽样，并选择了坦塔，因为它符合特定的实际标准，例如易于获取和地理位置邻近。
在第二阶段，使用了简单随机抽样来从这些地区选择企业。简单随机抽样意味着总体中的每个元素都有同等的机会被选入样本。研究人员在街道上漫步，随机接近企业，使用问卷进行现场访谈。针对不同经济活动的不同类型企业，旨在构建一个涵盖适当范围样本，以更好地代表更广泛的总体。
设置了两个经济标准来选择企业。第一个标准是活动的性质，是农业、制造业、商业还是服务型企业。第二个标准是每个企业的员工数量。如果企业员工不超过5人，我们将其视为微型企业；而拥有6至20名员工的 企业被视为小型企业。
数据收集方式
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面对面 [f2f]
研究工具
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设计了一种阿拉伯语和英语的双语问卷表，共分为12部分，用于收集调查数据。