Contradictory things are being advocated. Health care reform at least intuitively looks pro-small business. But mandatory vacation days and high unemployment benefits? If they are paid out by the hiring company? I doubt that is helpful for small businesses, who can't shift around workers as easily and will be discouraged from hiring if the costs of firing are so high.
And France isn't a nation of small businesses. Their best industries seem to be those really complicated infrastructure ones that require a lot of state intervention (bullet trains, nuclear reactors) and luxury goods (LV). It may have been nice to have that welfare cushion during the financial crisis, but that's a separate and potentially contradictory goal to encouraging small businesses.
And then there's Taiwan. It has always been a country of small and medium sized businesses, and to my knowledge, there was no uptick in this when national healthcare was implemented in the 90s. It could be high at a percentage for other reasons, though, and that it was so prevalent made it difficult for there to be any additional uptick.
And then there's Taiwan. It has always been a country of small and medium sized businesses
Yes. This was one of the most striking differences between Taiwan and the Republic of Korea during the 1980s, as each country was "graduating" from the Third World into the First World as newly industrialized countries. Taiwan had many small businesses, many of them family businesses employing family members, while Korea had a smallish number of huge conglomerates, employing tens of thousands. There were exceptions to the general pattern in each country, of course, but that was the systematic difference between Taiwan and Korea. Each country thrived with its own economic pattern. Each democratized, even more peacefully in Taiwan than in Korea, over the same period.
In Taiwan, an ancient Chinese proverb is often quoted, sometimes in somewhat modernized form: 寧為雞頭，不為牛後 "better to be the head of a chicken than the rear of a buffalo." A lot of Taiwanese people cherish being business managers rather than employees, and indeed my wife (from Taiwan) has been a small business owner most of her life. She wouldn't want to be someone else's employee just to have more secure employment--she likes making her own business decisions.
"...But mandatory vacation days and high unemployment benefits?...
This is a problem in Germany. One of the reasons only big companies can exist there. Some people there are having 3 month vacation.
"...the costs of firing are so high..."
It is very hard to fire there because of the Unions.
"...And France isn't a nation of small businesses. Their best industries seem to be those really complicated infrastructure ones that require a lot of state intervention (bullet trains, nuclear reactors) and luxury goods (LV)..."
Absolutely right. You can extend this statement to other countries in Europe as well.
> This is a problem in Germany. One of the reasons only big companies can exist there.
There are plenty of small and medium sized business in Germany. Ever heard of the Mittelstand? (Not to deny that those regulations can be a problem. On the other hand, Germany does not (in most sectors, yet) have a minimum wage.)
And France isn't a nation of small businesses. Their best industries seem to be those really complicated infrastructure ones that require a lot of state intervention (bullet trains, nuclear reactors) and luxury goods (LV). It may have been nice to have that welfare cushion during the financial crisis, but that's a separate and potentially contradictory goal to encouraging small businesses.
And then there's Taiwan. It has always been a country of small and medium sized businesses, and to my knowledge, there was no uptick in this when national healthcare was implemented in the 90s. It could be high at a percentage for other reasons, though, and that it was so prevalent made it difficult for there to be any additional uptick.