Title: The impact of SMEs on Kuwait's economic sustainable economic growth: what do Pearson correlation coefficients confirm?

Authors: Fayez A. Abdulsalam; Mohammad Zainal

Addresses: College of Business Administration, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait; Sabah Al Salem University City, Kuwait City, Kuwait ' College of Business Administration, Kuwait University, Kuwait City, Kuwait; Sabah Al Salem University City, Kuwait City, Kuwait

Abstract: Several studies confirm that Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in developing the countries' economies in terms of increasing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), creating new jobs and decreasing unemployment, and increasing the goods' export and reducing the poverty. This paper provides a picture of Kuwaiti SMEs and their impact on sustainable economic development. In terms of methodology, secondary data are used for the purposes of this study. These data are taken from the State Statistical Office of Kuwait for the period 2012-2019. The study involves data for macroeconomic indicators and SMEs indicators. SPSS software is used as a statistical tool for data analysis. Findings show that the development of SME has no significant impact on Kuwait's economic growth for the analysed period, which opens many questions and opportunities for the Kuwaiti Government with regards to their policies about SMEs support and development.

Keywords: SMEs; GDP; Pearson correlation; multiple linear regression; indicators; development; growth; Kuwait.

DOI: 10.1504/WREMSD.2022.123772

World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development, 2022 Vol.18 No.4, pp.477 - 490

Received: 21 Nov 2020
Accepted: 24 Nov 2020
Published online: 04 Jul 2022 *

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