ABSTRACT
Thus, access to a variety of people involved with entrepreneurial development and small businesses in Novgorod was possible, e.g. administrators responsible for regional government SME and entrepreneur development; the mineral resources director, the chief of police, the head of taxation, and the deputy governor responsible for SME development; the regional education and training staff such as the director of the local SME Training Centre and over 100 entrepreneurs, who were contacted for training, consultancy, or meetings. As a result, the sources of information used in this research on Novgorod were qualitative interview and observational data, regional statistics and a questionnaire survey. Unpublished statistics were obtained from the Novgorod regional Administration Department for Entrepreneurship Development and Support (henceforth quoted as Alekseev 1998)) ascertain the role of entrepreneurship in the local economy and were used in conjunction with official Goskomstat statistics. Quantitative data was also provided by the questionnaire, which was answered by 50 entrepreneurs and 10 administrators involved with SME development.
