The Center for Small and Medium Enterprises Research

The main research areas of the Center for Small and Medium Enterprises Research (CSMER), which was established by CIER in 1997, include industry, technology, trade and investment, economic development, human resources development, and quantitative research. The Center also plays the role of a small and medium enterprise (SME) "brains trust." Since 1997, the Center has compiled the White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Taiwan on an annual basis, providing relevant information and research results for the reference of SMEs. In addition, the Center provides English-language materials regarding SME development strategies and guidance policy in a timely manner for meetings of APEC and other international organizations and for other international exchange activities, and actively fosters the exchange of ideas with international experts. An English version of the White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises in Taiwan has been published every year since 1998 to raise international awareness of Taiwan's achievements in SME development.

The Center for Small and Medium Enterprises Research is positioned to focus on research on SME development in Taiwan. The Center's goal is to undertake an in-depth exploration of the possible challenges that Taiwan's SMEs may face and of potential new business opportunities. The Center's research team has had over a dozen papers published, including two articles published in a leading international journal Small Business Economics, and four articles published in the Taiwan Economic Association (TEA) Annual Conference Proceedings (in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001). In addition, in December 2008 CIER published Strategies for the Development of Emerging Markets by SMEs as part of its Economic Monographs series. It is anticipated that the Center will have more papers published in leading economics journals, thereby helping enhance the international image of Taiwan's SME sector and stimulate more research in SME-related fields.