Can government financial support enhance job creations: insights from Oman
Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management
ISSN: 2053-4620
Article publication date: 3 January 2022
Issue publication date: 14 August 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Promoting and supporting entrepreneurship is a critical pillar of Oman’s vision 2040. The need to understand to what extent the effectiveness of public funds given to micro and small enterprises in Oman as well as to understand the characteristics of the funds that can drive the impact of such government financial support programs on those enterprises motivated us to conduct this study. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the government loan support programs on job creation in micro and small enterprises in Oman.
Design/methodology/approach
Hypotheses were tested using data collected from 1,127 micro and small enterprises that received loan supports from the Government of Oman. The authors explored the impact of a set of predictors on a dependent variable (job creation) to understand to what extent do the supported micro and small enterprise characteristics significantly influence job creations in the enterprises. Multiple regression and General Linear Model Multivariate Analysis statistical techniques were used to test the hypotheses.
Findings
There is a positive relationship between government supported firms’ characteristics and job creation for both nationals and expatriates’ employment. The empirical results suggest that, when compared with the micro enterprises, the small enterprises were able to create more jobs for nationals than for expatriates, although the effect of the support program on job creation was significant for both groups.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature debate on the effectiveness of Oman’s entrepreneurship policy. Using multivariate analysis, the study analyzes the public support program for enterprises in Oman and how it can be improved to support the Oman 2040 Vision.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Authority of SMEs Development for extending their cooperation and support by providing the data of the 1,127 micro and small enterprises that have received financial supports from the government support program (previously from Al Raffd Fund) without which the research has not been possible to be completed. They would also extend our thanks to the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation for the research grant (TRC Block funding Research Grant Program) and the University of Nizwa for the financial support. The authors acknowledge Mr Mohammed Al Maawaly from the University of Nizwa Entrepreneurship Center and Mr Qais Al Shukaili from Authority of SMEs Development, and the Writing Center at the University of Nizwa for the technical support to conduct this research.
Citation
Al Shukaili, A.M., Al Kindi, K., Kassim, N.M., Ahmed, Z. and Al Hosni, K. (2023), "Can government financial support enhance job creations: insights from Oman", Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, Vol. 14 No. 5, pp. 807-829. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-07-2021-0100
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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