The evaluation of EBRD SMEs projects

Evaluating the direct and indirect impacts on SMEs of EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) funding to large companies is the subject of the study that Lattanzio KIBS is conducting on behalf of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

In more detail

The objective of the project is to develop a systematic methodology to assess the extent of the impact on SMEs of projects carried out with large EBRD clients.  This methodology will then be applied to all EBRD projects in the countries where it operates.

The evaluation investigates direct and indirect channels of impact on SMEs:

  • The direct channel comprises the short-term impact in terms of the provision of goods and services for the implementation by large enterprises of activities related to the EBRD's intervention;
  • The indirect channel, on the other hand, comprises the long-term impact in terms of the provision of goods and services related to the permanent increase in the production capacity of large enterprises as a result of the EBRD's intervention.

The study was carried out by involving four companies and their SMEs in the value chain in four different countries, Bulgaria, Egypt, Tunisia and Uzbekistan, and in four different sectors: aerospace, agribusiness, food processing and food retailing.

Project Pluses

The survey was carried out using the counterfactual analysis method. This approach is based on the analysis of the differences between the average value of indicators of SMEs in the supply chains of large enterprises after the EBRD intervention, collected through structured questionnaires, and the average value of indicators of other comparable SMEs (not in the supply chains of large enterprises) after the EBRD intervention, collected through official national and international statistics and databases.