Empreendedorismo e desenvolvimento local: uma análise do programa Microempreendedor Individual em Minas Gerais, Brasil

Abstract

Entrepreneurship has been a much discussed topic both in national and international literature. However, few studies have been concerned with public policies related to small businesses and their relations with local development. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the Brazilian government program called “Individual Micro-Entrepreneur – MEI”, in order to analyze its benefits and effectiveness to encourage the creation of new enterprises, formalization of informal business, improvements in performance and promotion of local development. The study is based on a quantitative approach, made with secondary data of 853 municipalities of Minas Gerais state and on an empirical study with 50 entrepreneurs of Pouso Alegre city. The data were analyzed using descriptive and multivariate statistical techniques. The main results show positives correlations among the entrepreneurs that opted for MEI program, with levels of income and local development, and presented negative correlation with unemployment levels. Among the most recognized benefits, it was observed that low bureaucracy, the facilities for the formalization and the sale of goods and/or services for other companies were the factors that better discriminated the groups of entrepreneurs who recognized significant improvements in their business after the formalization. The results are useful to analyze the effectiveness of the program MEI as a public policy able of encouraging the entrepreneurship and the local development, enabling new thinking about management stra