An Empirical Analysis of the Contributions of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to Poverty Reduction and Standard of Living in Rivers State
Dennis Brown Ewubare
Department of Economics, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Ifeoma Eurelia Osuji *
Department of Economics, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The study investigated the contributions of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to economic development with a focus on poverty reduction and standards in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study used a descriptive survey method and sampling was done using the simple random sampling method. A sample size of 317 respondents was used for the study based on the Taro-Yamane formula. The primary data were sourced using the instrument of a questionnaire and structured to reflect a five-point likert scale of strongly agree, agree, undecided, strongly disagree and disagree. These primary data were analyzed using mean ratings, standard deviation and analysis of variance statistical tools. The results showed that there is a significant relationship between SMEs and the standard of living. It also found that SMEs have contributed meaningfully to poverty reduction in Rivers State. This study, therefore, recommends that policymakers should address the issue of multiple taxes in order to boost the contributions of SMEs to economic development.
Keywords: Economic development, SMEs, poverty reduction, standard of living and Rivers State