SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES (SME) AND DISTRICT-LEVEL PANEL DATA ANALYSIS IN THE CONTEXT OF REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN UZBEKISTAN
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20529831Abstract
The study investigates the influence of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and human
capital in regional economic development in the Republic of Uzbekistan from 2011 to 2024. By utilizing Kernel
Density Estimation and regression of Fixed Effects (FE), the analysis reveals conditional beta-convergence,
but exposes “SME productivity paradox”. The high concentration of employment is negatively correlated with
economic growth in all development tiers, reflecting the dominance of necessity entrepreneurship. Besides,
regions revealed a deficit in “absorptive capacity”. To meet “Digital Uzbekistan – 2030 strategy”, there is a
necessity of improving the quality of SMEs
Keywords
human capital, absorptive capacity, small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), economic growth, peripheral, hub, GRP, Kernel Density Estimation, Fixed Effects, beta-convergence, entrepreneurship, regional, spatial, innovation, strategy, investment.References
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