Designed the surveys and ensued database covering all important definitional, analytical, policy, incentives and institutional issues and based on the most appropriate definitions of the various variables; Generated the primary data to the highest standard of accuracy possible, and obtained all appropriate secondary data bearing in mind the imperative to deal with the econometric problem of “identification” for each major markets studied; Edited, catalogued and archived the data, using methods offering best practices in survey data security, including the use of especially configured data-entry terminals which per-force can only store data on hard-disk(s) residing on a powerful server machine, which were “offline” at all times and allow disk-mirroring systematically; Processed the data using both STATA, LIMDEP and GAUSS/GAUSSX, to the point of generating all results, including model results of interest to the RFP; Web-enabled the database to facilitate the broadest possible dissemination to the community of users and stakeholders at the lowest possible cost including disseminating through the SME Web Portal ; writing a series of reports characterizing the SMEs’ growth process, the existence, the nature and causes of market failures; distinguishing “high-growth” vs “low-growth” SMEs; splicing the data about both the number of establishments and employment with a gender-aware “switch”; and finally producing guidelines for how to implement SME Policy Strategies.
