Determinants of Intended Expansion of Polish Small Firms * Subrata Ghatak Kingston University Alan Mulhern Kingston University Chris Stewart London Metropolitan University Abstract This paper investigates the determinants of Polish small firm’s intentions to expand production in the context of possible economic expansion on accession to the EU. Using a non-linear specification a model is developed using twenty-seven explanatory variables derived from a questionnaire given to Polish small firms in late 1999 asking about their motivations in expanding production. Seven of these variables are found to be significant, namely: the existence of export and franchising activity, a recent increase in fixed assets, the difficulty in obtaining a bank loan, the level of human capital, the technological level of the firm’s products and the estimated proportionate change in income from 1997 to 1999. Significant catch-up gains exist for small but fast growing firms. JEL classification: C22, C52, L00, P27 Keywords: Polish small firms, growth, censored regression, non-linearities  Address for correspondence is:  Professor Subrata Ghatak, School of Economics, Kingston University, Penrhyn Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 2EE.  E-mail S.Ghatak@Kingston.ac.uk  Fax 0044 (0)20 8547 7388  * This research was funded by PHARE-ACE P97-8123-R. The authors are solely responsible for any errors. This paper was presented at the EEFS conference at the European Central bank in Nov.2000. We gratefully acknowledge the comments of conference participants especially Dr. George Agiomirgianakis and also to anonymous referees for their very helpful comments. Usual disclaimers apply.