Year: 2006
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Small firms constitute the overwhelming majority of enterprises in the UK and are viewed by \ngovernment as engines of job and wealth creation. There has been a revival of the small firm sector \nin the UK in recent years but this has coincided with an increase in the volume and complexity of \nlegislation. Political concerns have been expressed about whether the law places too great a burden \non small firms and this is the problem giving rise to the present study. There has, however, been a \ndearth of academic work on the relationship between small firms and the law. In particular, there \nhas been very little empirical enquiry into small firms’ awareness and knowledge of their legal \nenvironment. The present study seeks to add to knowledge and understanding in this area. \nIt adopts a qualitative methodology and draws on semi-structured interviews carried out with \ntwenty-one small firm owner-managers and eight small business stakeholders. It analyses the extent \nof small firm awareness and knowledge and the factors affecting it. Because of the dearth of \nacademic literature, legal awareness and knowledge is conceptualised as legal expertise and seen as \npart of the wider subject of small business support. The literature is interpreted as providing an \nemerging theory of business support and this is adopted as the theoretical framework for the study. \nLevels of awareness and knowledge varied widely but acquisition was a low priority unless \nnecessity dictated otherwise. The results do not paint a picture of the small firm ‘burdened down’ \nunder the weight of regulation. The main theoretical development is the identification of factors \naffecting awareness and knowledge. These related to the firm, the law and the legal system, and the \ncloseness between the work of the firm and the law. There are also policy implications.
Author: Vidal Andreas Kumar
Language: English
Topic: Business Law and Ethics
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3000664686