A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the socio-economic development of countries indicates the need to assess both the dynamics of their development and their performance. The purpose of the article is to elaborate methodological recommendations for assessing the performance of SMEs in the Ukrainian economy based on the calculation of the integral indicator, which will allow revealing the most influential types of economic activity and elaborating effective recommendations for the selection of priority directions in stimulating the SME development. A methodological approach to assessing performance of SMEs, which implies a comprehensive assessment and analysis of the indicators of return on enterprises’ assets, their liquidity, financial independence, as well as turnover of working capital of SMEs, has been proposed. On the basis of the elaborated approach, the assessment of the performance of SMEs by types of economic activity in whole in the Ukrainian economy has been carried out. A structural study of the dynamics of the integral indicator of SME performance in Ukraine has been conducted, and the types of economic activity that had a positive and negative influence on it have been determined. It has been proved that the performance indicators of SMEs were the most negatively influenced by the indicators of return on assets and financial independence.