Estimating well-being of small and medium enterprises in modern Russia: macroeconomic aspect

Objective: to conduct a comprehensive macroeconomic assessment of the state of the Russian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector through the prism of a multicomponent model of well-being.
Methods: general scientific methods of structural and comparative analysis, as well as specific scientific methods (static analysis for processing data from Rosstat, the Russian Federal Tax Service, the Public Opinion Foundation; expert assessments for interpreting surveys; graphical analysis for visualizing dynamic series; modeling for developing a conceptual model of the SMEs well-being).
Results: the research substantiated the need to apply a comprehensive approach to the analysis of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as part of the concept of economic agents’ well-being. The author performed a theoretical analysis of the well-being phenomenon and formulated a definition of the small and medium businesses’ well-being. Based on the adaptation of C. Ryff’s six-factor model, the author developed and tested a seven-component model of the SME sector well-being at the macro level. The model components analysis revealed a contradiction: while national projects formally achieve some of the targets (number of employees, share in non-resource exports), the key indicator (SMEs’ share in GDP) remains stagnant at 20-22%. At the same time, there is pessimism in business sentiment, high tax and administrative pressure, a shortage of qualified personnel, a reduction in government support and a low level of trust in institutions.
Scientific novelty: it consists in the development of an original macroeconomic model of the SME sector well-being, expanded with the “Involvement in digitalization processes” component, which adequately reflects the modern economy challenges and allows overcoming the fragmented research in this sector.
Practical significance: the obtained results and the proposed model can be used by government authorities to adjust economic policies and support programs for SMEs, focusing them on solving systemic problems identified during the component analysis. The article materials are also applicable in scientific and educational activities for the interdisciplinary study of the phenomenon of economic agents’ well-being.

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