PYMEs en Australia y América Latina: un estudio comparado de la regulación y la realidad de la incipiente pandemia de la COVID19
| Autor | Cantatore Francina, Mesa Tejeda Natacha, Stevenson Graf Lindsey, ?ebryt? Ieva, Guerrero Joaquin |
| Cargo | BA LLB (Hons) MA PhD GDLP, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Bond University, Australia. E-mail: fcantato@bond.edu.au. Google Scholar ORCID: 0000-0003-4643-6654 / LLB LLM PhD, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Havana, Cuba. E-mail: natachamesa251980@yahoo.es Google Scholar ORCID: 0000-0002-8898-9209 / BA JD MA GDLP, Senior Teaching ... |
| Páginas | 293-325 |
CÓMO CITAR ESTE ARTÍCULO:
Cantatore, F., Mesa Tejada, N., Stevenson-Graf, L.,
Žebrytė, I. & Guerrero, J. (2022). SMEs in Australia
and Latin America: A Comparative Study of Regulation
and Reality in an Encroaching COVID19 Pandemic.
Jurídicas,19(1), 293-325. https://doi.org/10.17151/
jurid.2022.19.1.17
Received March 11, 2021
Approved on October 20, 2021
*BA LLB (Hons) MA PhD GDLP, Associate Professor,
Faculty of Law, Bond University, Australia. E-mail:
fcantato@bond.edu.au. Google Scholar
ORCID: 0000-0003-4643-6654
**LLB LLM PhD, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of
Havana, Cuba. E-mail: natachamesa251980@yahoo.es
Google Scholar
ORCID: 0000-0002-8898-9209
***BA JD MA GDLP, Senior Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Law,
Bond University, Australia. Email: lstevens@bond.edu.au
Google Scholar
ORCID: 0000-0003-1383-1498
****PhD in Management student at the ISM University of
Management and Economics, Lithuania, and academic at
the Facultad de Cs. Jurídicas y Empresariales, Universidad
de La Frontera, Chile. Email: ieva.zebryte@ufrontera.cl.
Google Scholar
ORCID: 0000-0002-9204-7679
*****Business Administration student at the Facultad de Cs.
Jurídicas y Empresariales, Universidad de La Frontera, Chile.
Email: dmguerrero.es@gmail.com Google Scholar
ORCID: 0000-0001-5312-9842
Jurídicas, 19(1), 293-325, julio-diciembre 2021
ABSTRACT
This paper reports on a comparative study
between the structures, regulation and
challenges of small and medium size
businesses (SMEs) in Australia and two
Latin American jurisdictions – Chile and
Cuba - with the object of exploring ways
in which SME-propitious ecosystem can
be congured in an unprecedented crisis
situation. It examines the legislation, bodies
and regulation in place which deal with
SME issues, including consumer protection,
and the differing contextual considerations,
taking cognizance of the challenges faced
during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally,
the paper explores ways in which SMEs can
be assisted and advised of their legal rights,
including the provision of clinical and
advisory support at a university level, and
considers the steps taken by governments
in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic. To compare practices and learn
from them the research utilizes three case
studies and contrasts the issues faced in an
emerging economy such as Cuba with more
established frameworks such as Chile and
Australia, both OECD countries.
Keywords: SMEs, regulation and practice,
Australia, Latin America, Chile, Cuba,
COVID-19
SMEs in Australia
and Latin America: A
Comparative Study of
Regulation and Reality
in an Encroaching
COVID19 Pandemic
Francina cantatore*
natacha Mesa-tejeda**
Lindsey stevenson-GraF***
Ieva Žebrytė****
joaquin Guerrero*****
Francina Cantatore, Natacha Mesa, Lindsey Stevenson, leva Žebryt, Joaquin Guerrero
294
PYMEs en Australia y América
Latina: un estudio comparado de
la regulación y la realidad de la
incipiente pandemia de la COVID19
RESUMEN
Este artículo presenta resultados del estudio comparado de
las estructuras, la regulación, y los desafíos de pequeñas
y medianas empresas (PYMEs) en Australia y América
Latina. Aquello con el objetivo de explorar formas de
lograr un ecosistema propicio para la actividad de las
PYMEs enfrentando una crisis nunca antes visto. Examina
la legislación, los órganos y los reglamentos vigentes, entre
ellos régimen de protección del consumidor, y las diferentes
consideraciones contextuales, entre ellas prestación de
apoyo por parte de las clínicas jurídicas y otras iniciativas
de las instituciones de la educación superior, teniendo en
cuenta los desafíos enfrentados durante la pandemia de
COVID-19. Por último, el estudio considera las medidas
adoptadas por los gobiernos para mitigar el impacto de la
pandemia COVID-19. La investigación utiliza tres casos
de estudio y contrasta los problemas enfrentados en una
economía emergente como la de Cuba con marcos más
establecidos como Chile y Australia para comparar las
prácticas y aprender de ellas.
Palabras Clave: PYME, regulación y práctica, Australia,
América Latina (Chile and Cuba), COVID-19.
SMEs in Australia and Latin America: A Comparative Study of Regulation and Reality in an Encroaching...
295
Jurídicas, 19(1), 293-325, enero-junio 2022
I. Introduction
This article takes an original and novel approach to exploring the operation of micro,
small and medium size businesses (or enterprises) — also known as ‘SMEs’ in three
diverse jurisdictions, namely Australia, Chile and Cuba. Australia and Cuba are both
members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (‘OECD’),
whilst Chile and Cuba are Latin American countries at opposite ends of the scale. Such
an investigation provides interesting comparisons on the operation and treatment of
SMEs in these jurisdictions generally, and specically during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dening SMEs
The denition of SMEs may vary in different jurisdictions and contexts. In the context
of this article, cognizance is taken of how SMEs are dened in Australia, Chile and
Cuba, to facilitate a comparative enquiry into SME regulation in Australia and the
two Latin American jurisdictions.
SMEs are recognised as important economic contributors in Australia, and
internationally1. In Australia, however, there is no agreement or uniform legislative
denition of an SME. Commonwealth legislation does provide for differential
treatment or special protections for certain businesses dened as ‘small businesses’.
However, for statistical purposes, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (‘ABS’) denes
an entity employing less than 20 employees as a ‘small business’, and a ‘medium-
sized business’ as one that employs 20 to 199 employees (ABS, 2020a). Other
denitions of ‘small business’ under Australian law include: the Australian Securities
and Investment Commission Act 2001 (Cth) s 12BC: “small business means a
business employing less than: (a) if the business is or includes the manufacture
of goods—100 people; or (b) otherwise—20 people”; and the Corporations Act
2001 (Cth) s 761G: “small business means a business employing less than: (a) if the
business is or includes the manufacture of goods—100 people; or (b) otherwise—20
people” (Cantatore & Crawford-Spencer, 2018, p. 38).
In Chile, Art 2 of Law 20,416 divides SMEs into the following three categories
based on annual income from sales, services and other activities in the last
calendar year: rst, ‘microenterprises’ are companies whose annual income has
not exceeded 2,400 Unidades de Fomento (‘UF’)2; second, ‘small businesses’
are entities with annual income between 2,400 UF and 25,000 UF; and third,
‘medium-sized businesses’ are those with annual income that is more than 25,000
UF but less than 100,000 UF. Additionally, the classication according to the
1 For example, the United Nations General Assembly has designated 27 June each year to be Micro-, Small, and
Medium-Sized Enterprises Day (Commonwealth of Australia, 2018, p. 5).
2 At the moment, 1 UF equals 29.357 CLP which approximates to USD 40.53. Unidad de Fomento (UF) is an ination-
indexed unit of account, calculated and published by the Central Bank of Chile. It is authorized for pricing credit
operations in national currency by banks and credit and savings cooperatives (Banco Central de Chile).
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