ABSTRACT
The small firms are believes to be a major source of innovation in the modern economy though, as with employment, it is contended that it is only a small proportion of the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) sector that accounts for such innovations. The transition economies provide SMEs with little incentive to commit themselves to long-term projects, forcing them, instead, to concentrate on the task of surviving. This is a point recognized particularly by Iacob Catoiu and Calin Veghes in their contribution based on Romania, and Miroslav Glas and Mateja Drnovsek who make the point that 'Slovenian small businesses have exhibited great vitality and enough endurance despite the negligent attitude of Government'. The study of entrepreneurship and the role of SMEs is not just an academic discipline but a subject of very real relevance to the future of society, whether in the developed economies of the west or the former communist countries that constitutes the 'transition' economies.
