Small and Medium Enterprises and Job Creation in Cameroon

The objective of this research is to make a comparative analysis between large enterprises and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the job creation process in Cameroon. The question that arises is whether small and medium enterprises really create more jobs compared to other large enterprises. The analysis is based on a sample of 3085 firms in the industrial sector in Cameroon over the period 2005-2011. The industrial sector is divided into manufacturing and services sectors. The results show that firms in the manufacturing sector create more jobs than those in the services sector. In each sector, large and medium-sized enterprises create more jobs than SMEs, while very small enterprisesdo not create jobs. We also found that SMEs in the service sector create more jobs than those in the manufacturing sector. These results show that the Cameroonian authorities should focus on large and medium enterprises in the job creation process.