This Campbell systematic review assesses the effects of business support services in low‐ and middle‐income countries on firm performance and economic development. The review summarizes findings from 40 studies. Included studies examine interventions targeted at SMEs (two to 250 employees) involving tax simplification, exports and access to external markets; support for innovation policies; support to local production systems; training and technical assistance, and SME financing and credit guarantee programmes. Findings from 40 studies are summarised in the review. These studies present evidence from 18 low‐ and middle‐income countries, with 26 studies analysing programmes in Latin America, six from Asia and five from Africa. On average, business support to SMEs improves their performance, their ability to create jobs, their labour productivity and their ability to invest. The effects on innovation are unclear. Matching grants, technical assistance and tax simplification programmes improve firms' performance and job creation; with technical assistance also improving labour productivity. Export promotion and innovation programmes positively affect exports and innovation, but there is no evidence that they improve performance or job creation. However, the effects of the programmes studied are not very large. Most studies do not include the required data to assess if the programmes are cost effective. Plain language summary BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES TO SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES SEEM TO IMPROVE FIRM PERFORMANCEThe Campbell review in briefSupport to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can improve their revenue and profits, their ability to create jobs, labour productivity and their ability to invest. But these effects are not large, and the cost effectiveness of the interventions not known. The effects on innovation are unclear.What is this review about?Large amounts of funding are going towards programmes to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in low‐ and middle‐income countries in order to increase revenue and profits, generate employment, and, so, create economic growth and reduce poverty.The Campbell review summarizes evidence of the impact of these programmes on measures of SME performance including revenues, profits, and productivity, as well as the firms' ability to generate employment and their labour productivity.What are the main findings of this review?What studies are included?Included studies examine interventions targeted at SMEs (two to 250 employees) involving tax simplification, exports and access to external markets; support for innovation policies; support to local production systems; training and technical assistance, and SME financing and credit guarantee programmes.Findings from 40 studies are summarised in the review. These studies present evidence from 18 low‐ and middle‐income countries, with 26 studies analysing programmes in Latin America, six from Asia and five from Africa.Do business support services work?On average, business support to SMEs improves their performance, their abi...

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The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie) is an international grant-making NGO promoting evidence-informed development policies and programmes. We are the global leader in funding, producing and synthesising high-quality evidence of what works, for whom, why and at what cost. We believe that better and policy-relevant evidence will make development more effective and improve people's lives. 3ie systematic reviews 3ie systematic reviews appraise and synthesise the available high-quality evidence on the effectiveness of social and economic development interventions in low-and middle-income countries. These reviews follow scientifically recognised review methods, and are peerreviewed and quality assured according to internationally accepted standards. 3ie is providing leadership in demonstrating rigorous and innovative review methodologies, such as using theory-based approaches suited to inform policy and programming in the dynamic contexts and challenges of low-and middle-income countries. About this reviewBusiness support for small and medium enterprises in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review, was submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of grant SR5.1180 issued under Systematic Review Window 5. This review is available on the 3ie website. 3ie is publishing this report as received from the authors; it has been formatted to 3ie style. This review has also been published in the Campbell Collaboration Library and is available here.All content is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not represent the opinions of 3ie, its donors or its board of commissioners. Any errors are also the sole responsibility of the authors. Comments or queries should be directed to the corresponding author, Caio Piza, ctpiza@worldbank.org Plain language summaryMotivation: Large amounts of funding are going towards programmes to support small businesses (Small and Medium Enterprises, or SMEs) in low-and middle-income countries, based on the assumption that those businesses will make profits and generate employment, and thus create economic growth and reduce poverty. However, it is not clear how much evidence exists to show whether those results are occurring and for which groups. This is the first systematic review of the evidence regarding these programmes.Approach: The review looks at measures of SME performance including revenues, profits, and productivity, as well as the firms' ability to generate employment and their labour productivity. We conducted a systematic review of the available quantitative evidence, and also incorporated qualitative studies to better understand the mechanisms at work. We searched for published and unpublished literature, using inclusion criteria according to the study protocol. We critically appraised the studies included, and conducted statistical metaanalysis to gain an overview of the findings and meta-regression to understand heterogeneity.Results: Our study finds that business' support to SMEs improves their performance, their ability to create jobs, ...