Small and medium enterprises in distress : Thailand, the East Asian crisis and beyond / Philippe Régnier.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-179) and index.

Introductory chapter - SME development in international theory and practice. Part I Small enterprise development in Thailand and the impact of the East Asian crisis: Thailand, an environment conducive to entrepreneurship; absence of SME legislation and loose classification of SMEs; the effects of the East Asian crisis on Thai SMEs (1997-1999); SMEs facing survival and competition challenges. Part II Structural adjustment under the international monetary fund and new SME government policy: Thai SMEs, the role of the private and public sectors before the crisis; Thai SMEs and structural adjustment policy (1997-1999); the credibility of the new SME policy. Part III The resilience of SMEs linked to foreign firms: linking local SMEs and foreign firms operating in East Asia; the potential resilience of Thai subcontractors linked to foreign firms - SME case studies; the potential resilience of final goods producers linked to foreign firsm - SME case studies. Conclusive chapter - SME policy alternatives.

Since 1998, there have been many diagnoses, studies and theories attempting to explain the East Asian economic crisis and the impact on major economic and financial sectors. This text aims to fill a gap in the literature by examining the effects on small and medium-sized enterprises.