Most development practitioners subscribe to the view that vibrant small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) are crucial for the health of a country’s economy. The SME sector is crucial, the argument goes because it creates employment and serves as a hotbed of entrepreneurial talent. Additionally, SMEs are often seen as a source of new, fast-growing industries, contributing to a price-reducing and quality-improving competition with large and old firms that tend to dominate markets in small countries such as Georgia.

APRC conducted a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on insurance reform in Georgia and provided recommendations on policy options for developing a sustainable agricultural insurance market in the country.

On Friday, May 29th, Jan Fidrmuc from Brunel University presented his recent research paper titled “Happiness and Religion” coauthored with Çiğdem Börke Tunalı from Istanbul University to the ISET Community. This was not Mr. Fridrmuc’s first visit to ISET, he has already presented very interesting works about Friday the 13th superstition and persistence of social capital.

Economic activities which are not registered (and therefore not taxed) are commonly called Shadow Economy or Underground Economy. Are there shadowy corners in Georgia’s economy? Not just corners!

The objective of the assistance program is the promotion of agro-technical activities (plowing) for cultivating annual crops and supplying the industrial inputs (fertilizers and/or seeds and/or plant protection products); and the promotion of the activities of those land-poor-farmers who only have perennial crops on their lands (the provision of fertilizers and/or plant protection products).