Abstract

MUNGARAY LAGARDA, Alejandro; AGUILAR BARCELO, José Gabriel; RAMIREZ ANGULO, Natanael  and  ORTIZ FIGUEROA, Astrid. Micro and small enterprises as employment generators in Baja California during the crisis of 2008-2009. Estud. soc [online]. 2016, vol.26, n.48, pp.247-274. ISSN 0188-4557.

The objective of this paper assesses the impor-tance of the composition of business tissue in the evolution of the economic activity and job creation in Baja California in the context of the global crisis of 2008-2009, highlighting the behavior of micro and small enterprises. The method consists of two parts: a correspondence analysis as an exploratory tool and a confirmatory econometric analysis with confirmatory purposes in which a collection of economic census variables is used, and once reviewed population, migration and production structure indicators. As results, we found a direct and significant relationship of micro enterprises with turnover and employment during the crisis period, however, in the post-crisis period (2010-2014) the contribution of small enterprises was noticeably higher. Meanwhile, large enterprises, showed lower sensitivity and a reduced ability to create jobs even during the post-crisis period. Limitations: However, due to the limited number of observations the results should be treated with some caution because of the high segregation. It is concluded that it is not possible to reject the hypothesis that micro but especially small enterprises, played a strategic role in generating employment and economic dynamism during the crisis, even helping to reduce their impact. Therefore, it is appropriate to strengthen industrial policy that promotes training and innovation for micro and small enterprises.

Keywords : regional development; crisis; micro and small enterprises; economic activities; employment and correspondence analysis.