Evaluating small business development policies and programmes is a methodologically difficult task. A wide range of role players in the economy - government departments and agencies, corporations, international donors, and non-governmental organisations - invest resources of sizeable magnitude annually in promoting small business. This investment is often justified on the basis of the importance of small business in contributing to the attainment of a range of socio-economic objectives such as job creation, addressing economic inequity among various population groups, stimulating competition in the economy, and enhancing economic growth. With the increase in the magnitude of public investment in small business development, and increasing competition for the same resources from other worthwhile interventions, the pressure for public accountability and the need to demonstrate effectiveness of policies and programmes has increased. Programme sponsors are increasingly requiring that those receiving public funds for small business development projects should ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of their programmes in order to ensure that there is a sound information base to provide the necessary policy and programme feedback.

The question, however, is to what extent small business policies and programmes are successful in ensuring the attainment of their objectives. To what degree can any changes at the level of the enterprise and its immediate environment be realistically attributed to the effectiveness of policies and programmes?

Can ongoing investment in small business development be justified in the face of competing demands for the same resources from other worthwhile and perhaps more pressing causes? How efficient is a particular policy or programme in terms of its cost in relation to other policy or programme alternatives? These and more are questions facing evaluators of small business development policies and programmes. This thesis shows that the task facing these evaluators is not an easy one, due to methodological complexities encountered in attempting to answer these questions.

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