IMPACT OF ECONOMIC RECESSION ON PERFORMANCE OF MICRO AND SMALL FIMS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The lull that trails economic activities during an economic recession usually has a negative impact on business activities. Given this understanding, this study examines the impact of economic recession on the growth of micro-businesses in Kwara State, Nigeria. It draws from the Keynesian theory of the trade cycle and Schumpeter’s theory of innovation. Three research questions were addressed. A self-structured questionnaire adapted from previous authors was employed with a sample size of 83 registered poultry farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. A census-based method was employed for data collection and descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression techniques were used for the analysis. The results obtained indicated that indebtedness is inversely and statistically significantly related to micro and small poultry firms’ performance while inflation is positively and statistically significant but unemployment is negatively related but not significant to micro and small poultry firms’ sales performance in Kwara State. The paper recommends initiatives that could be embraced by the government to deepen the activities of micro and small scale businesses to spur good performance in the poultry industry in the country during an economic recession.