ABSTRACT
Before becoming immersed in abstract argument and econometric details, a more concrete approach may assist the reader in understanding the nature of the typical small business enterprise (SBE) with which I shall be dealing. In his influential study of The Economics of Small Firms (1981), Graham Bannock opened his book with a riveting description of a small business and its owner-manager in a way which would have done credit to a novelist. In a sense, he created a picture. I would not want to copy that memorable device here, but the illuminating impression it made does suggest to me that some kind of picture of the central object of analysis in this volume, the small business enterprise, would be helpful as a reference point.
