Coordination and competition in small business policy: A comparative analysis of Australia and Denmark

The article presents a conceptual framework for the cross-national comparison of small business policy in Australia, which uses a competitive approach and in Denmark, which demonstrates the coordinated approach. The varieties of capitalism approach suggests that competitive and coordinated business systems are oriented toward success in different types of industries. The development of an appropriate framework for the comparative analysis of small business policy can be guided to some extent by current approaches to the comparative analysis of industrial policy. This approach to the comparative analysis of industrial policy is useful for distinguishing between different industrial policy instruments but does not go so far as providing a basis for the comparative analysis of industrial policy regimes. An emphasis on market relations also involves general deregulatory measures designed to achieve greater market flexibility and improve the business environment for SMEs including tax reform, reform of administrative requirements, and labor market reform. Government-imposed administrative burdens are seen as a significant cost for small firms and are therefore regarded as an impediment to small business entrepreneurship and innovation