Relationship Between SMEs’ Resources and Their Sustainable Growth With Moderating of Government-Private Supports, and Gender of Entrepreneurs, in Lao PDR

Abstract: This paper aims to investigate the relationships between resources including, financial resources (FRR), financial literacy (FLR), managerial capacities (MCR), market orientation (MKR), technological innovation awareness (TIR), and SME’s sustainable growth (SG), both in finance (FSGE) and non-finance (NFSGE), and to identify the impact of government support (GS), private support (PS), and Gender of entrepreneur (GE) moderate the effect of these resources on their SG. Using the survey method and adopted a random sampling technique. Data was collected with 517 SME owners/managers. The Structural Equation Modelling, Interaction effects, Multiple group techniques, and SPSS/AMOS version 23 for hypothesis testing. The study model revealed the resources contributed a 43.8 percent and 35.5 percent variance in FSGE and NFSGE, respectively. Results confirmed 15 out of 40 hypotheses: the effect of FLR and TIR on both FSGE and NFSGE; and MKR on NFSGE. GS moderated the relationships between resources (FLR, MCR, MKR, TIR) and FSGE. PS impact on the effect of MKR, and TIR on both FSGE and NFSGE. The GE moderated the relationships between resources and the SGSMEs in the study model. Particularly, in the relationship between MKR, TIR, and FSGE. This evidence supports existing theories and contributes to informing the importance of businesses’ resources in enhancing operational business sustainable growth, and emphasize the need for support from authorities and other partners.

Key words: resources of SMEs, sustainable growth of SMEs, government support, private support, gender of entrepreneurs

JEL codes: M