Private sector manufacturing in Hungary : a survey of firms

Abstract

The central objective of this research was to document the characteristics and problems of private sector manufacturers in Hungary so they can be supported as effectively as possible. The project has three specific objectives. The first was to develop a profile of entrepreneurs and their firms. The second was to evaluate sample firms' prospects, assessing the impact of recent reforms on firm-level operations and identifying constraints to further growth. Key factors for success were identified by comparing high-performance firms with those that were failing. The third objective was to formulate recommendations for actions to support the Hungarian private manufacturing sector. The heart of the project was a firm-level survey of 106 firms carried out in Hungary in September 1991. Firms were randomly drawn from the national roster of registered industrial companies, and then narrowed down to a random sample of manufacturing firms that were majority privately- and domestically-owned with seven or more employees. Excluded were the large self-employed sector, firms engaged in trade and services, and joint ventures. Each entrepreneur was interviewed by a research team for 3 to 4 hours using a standardized questionnaire devised to elicit quantitative and qualitative information.