What really happens to small and medium-sized enterprises in a global economic recession? UK evidence on sales and job dynamics

This article uses UK data to consider how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) 1 coped during the recent financial crisis. This is important, as SMEs are major contributors to job creation, but are vulnerable to falling demand. It finds that 4 in 10 SMEs experienced a fall in employment during the recession, and 5 in 10 experienced a fall in sales. Within 12 months of the recession, three-quarters of entrepreneurs had a desire to grow. This...