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Firms face difference obstacles for their development. This paper investigates which obstacle is the largest to firms’ productivity using micro-level data for the Asia and Pacific region. Access to finance shows the most robust result in our investigation, being stronger for SMEs. Removing SMEs’ credit constraints seem to be a powerful tool to promote economic growth in the region, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

Firms face difference obstacles for their development. This paper investigates which obstacle is the largest to firms’ productivity using micro-level data for the Asia and Pacific region. Access to finance shows the most robust result in our investigation, being stronger for SMEs. Removing SMEs’ credit constraints seem to be a powerful tool to promote economic growth in the region, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

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