MODERATING EFFECT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORKING ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACCESS TO FINANCE AND PERFORMANCE OF MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES

The study aim to find the impact of access to finance for improving the performance of MSEs in Punjab, Pakistan. The researchers also try to further estimate the moderating effect of entrepreneurial networking on the relationship between access to finance and performance of MSEs in Punjab, Pakistan. Survey research was employed to collect the data. The data for the study was collected with the help of a questionnaire adapted from the past studies. The reliability of the instrument that was used to collect data was ensured through Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability. After ensuring the reliability of instrument, structural equation modeling was conducted by using PLS-3. The results of the study supported the arguments raised in the study that there is a positive relationship between access to finance and performance of MSEs in Punjab, Pakistan. The results also supported the argument of moderating effect of entrepreneurial networking on the relationship between access to finance and performance of MSEs in Punjab, Pakistan. The explained variation calculated through R2 has also shown that the overall model is explaining 47.1 % variation in the performance of MSEs in Punjab, Pakistan