Małe i średnie przedsiębiorstwa w Łódzkim Obszarze Metropolitalnym

Small and medium-sized enterprises are the engines of market economies. In Poland, their position has been growing since the beginning of the transition, especially due to the fact that they stimulate economic growth, but also because they play an important role in the society. The paper shows the economic and social role of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Lodz Metropolitan Area (LMA). The analysis has been subjected to their size, ownership, legal forms, business sector structure, concentrati on in the LMA, average wages and the share of particular powiats and LMA in the employment during the global financial crisis. Due to the relatively large share of manufacturing in economic activities of SME, their branch structure in powiats has also been discussed. The analysis showed that SME in the LMA dominate, in terms of quantity, the rest of the Lodz voivodship, although their share in employment and investments is a bit less than 50%. The LMA residents are more entrepreneurial, both as compared to the Lodz voivodship and to the entire country. In all powiats of the LMA the main business activity is manufacturing. The Lodz powiat dominates in the LMA in terms of all analyzed indicators, i.e. the entrepreneurship of residents, the number of SMEs, their investments, the highest average wages and the share in employment, but the structure of the business, including manufacturing, does not differ from other the LMA powiats.