Small business

1.3 Evaluating specific support measures
Objective: To obtain feedback on specific policies and programmes that have been introduced to stimulate the SME
sector and remove barriers to its development.  
This will assess the impact of incentives and support given to SMEs in such fields as finance; counselling
and consulting; training and education; information; technology and innovation; provision of premises;
and special access to government contracts.
There are two groups of evaluation measures: summative measures aim to examine the impact of any
particular measure by linking inputs to outputs; formative evaluation examines the process of support
management. The latter obviously impacts on the former.
Summative evaluation may be undertaken at various levels including:
• Reaction: how recipients feel about the benefits or otherwise of support - usually measured by means
of a questionnaire or interview;
EFFECTIVE POLICIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS - © OECD 2004
1. Needs Analysis
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• Learning: shows how well recipients understand the support mechanism and the opportunities it
brings – measured by questionnaires, interviews and tests;
• Behaviour: how recipients have behaved differently as a result of the new policy – measured by
interview and observation;
• Interim actions: what developments have taken place as a result of support or change (in the case of start-
up incentives: has the business started and survived) – measured by audit, interview and observation;
• Ultimate impact: impact on business performance in terms of turnover, profits and employment –
measured by primary enterprise data;
It should be noted that it is not easy to attribute changes in behaviours and organisational performance
to any discrete piece of legislation as numerous other factors are usually at work. 
Formative evaluation will cover the processes by which targets are set, needs have been established,
programmes developed, and delivered, programmes are marketed as well as how they are managed.
Formative and summative evaluations are dealt with in more detail in Part II.