SMEs in Australia and Latin America: A Comparative Study of Regulation and Reality of in Encroaching COVID19 Pandemic

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

regulation and practice

Australia

Latin America

Chile

Cuba

COVID-19

Citas

Agostini, C. A., Willington, M., Lazcano, R., & Saavedra, E. (2017). Predation and network based price discrimination in Chile. Telecommunications Policy, 41(9), 781-791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2017.04.006

Andrade, V. (2017, July). Chilean Consumer Law & Policy: A Brief Outlook. Chilean Consumer Law & Policy: A Brief Outlook. Paper presented at the Conference of the International Association of Consumer Law, Porto Alegre, Brazil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-022-09505-8

Anderson, I. & Serpa, R. (2018, August 2). Cuba: private home ownership recognised for the first time since the revolution. The Conversation. https://www.theconversation.com/cuba-private-homeownership-recognised-for-the-first-time-since-the-revolution-100204

Australia. (2015, April 14). Corporations Act 2001. https://wipolex.wipo.int/fr/text/480881

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2020a). Key Statistics. https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8165.0

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2020b, June 24). Businesses seek advice in response to COVID-19 [Media Release]. https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40.nsf/mediareleasesbyCatalogue/49F8475B31112582CA25853600764041

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2019, February 21). Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exists, June 2014 to June 2018. https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/8165.0Main%20Features1June%202014%20to%20June%202018?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=8165.0&issue=June%202014%20to%20June%202018&num=&view=

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2018). Counts of Australian Business, including Entries and Exits, Jun 2013 to Jun 2017. https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/allprimarymainfeatures/88C27C44DBC4961CCA2583A70012187D?opendocument

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2014). Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, Jun 2009 to Jun 2013. https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/allprimarymainfeatures/2B7FEACBFF26E3EDCA257DF9000E3FE7?opendocument

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. (2022, February 26). ACCC. https://www.accc.gov.au/

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. (2015, September 15). Unfair Contract Terms.
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/business-rights-protections/unfair-contract-terms

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. (2013, January 17). Make a complaint as a business.
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/business-rights-protections/make-a-complaint-as-a-business

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. (2013, January 11). Franchising code of conduct.
https://www.accc.gov.au/business/industry-codes/franchising-code-of-conduct

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. (2012, September 11). Business rights. https://www.accc.gov.au/business/business-rights-protections/business-rights

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. (2011, January 1). Act No.148 of 2010. The Competition and Consumer Act 201.
https://ppp.worldbank.org/public-private-partnership/sites/ppp.worldbank.org/files/documents/Australia_Competition%20and%20Consumer%20Act_C2011C00003VOL01.pdf

Australian Consumer Law. (2016). Consumer guarantees: A guide for businesses and legal practitioners.
https://consumer.gov.au/sites/consumer/files/2016/05/0553FT_ACL-guides_Guarantees_web.pdf

Australian Government. (s. f.). Support for businesses in Australia. Retrieved on February 23, 2022 https://business.gov.au/

Australian Government. (s. f.). Business registration service. Retrieved on February 23, 2022. https://register.business.gov.au/

Australian Government. (2020a). Business structures. https://www.business.gov.au/Planning/Businessstructures-and-types/Business-structures

Australian Government (2020b), Restrictions on services.https://www.business.gov.au/Risk-management/Emergency-management/Coronavirus-information-and-support-for-business/Restrictions-on-nonessential-services

Australian Government. (2020c). Coronavirus information and support for business. https://business.gov.au/Risk-management/Emergency-management/Coronavirus-information-and-support-for-business

Australian Government. Productivity Commission. (2014). Access to Justice Arrangements: Inquiry Report (No. 72). https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/access-justice/report/access-justice-overview.pdf

Australian Government. (2015, November 12). Regulatory Reform Agenda to focus on productivity and States [Media Release]. https://ministers.pmc.gov.au/hendy/2015/regulatory-reform-agenda-focusproductivity-and-states

Australian Securities and Investments Commission. (2022). ASIC. https://asic.gov.au/for-business/small-business/

Australian Securities and Investments Commission. (2020). Setting Up a Business Structure. https://asic.gov.au/for-business/small-business/starting-a-small-business/setting-up-a-business-structure/

Australian Securities and Investments Commission. (2001). Act 2001. Retrieved on February 24, 2022.
http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/cth/consol_act/asaica2001529/

Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. (2020). Ombudsman calls for 30-day payment times to be legislated. https://www.asbfeo.gov.au/news/news-articles/ombudsman-calls-30-day-payment-times-be-legislated

Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman. (2019). Small Business Counts: Small business in the Australian economy. https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2019-08/apo-nid255916.pdf

Australian Taxation Office. (2019a December 9). Income Tax Return Records - business. https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Record-keeping-for-business/Detailed-business-record-keeping-requirements/Running-your-business---records/Income-tax-return-records---business/

Australian Taxation Office. (2019b). Changes to company tax rates. https://www.ato.gov.au/Rates/Changes-to-company-tax-rates/?page=1

Australian Taxation Office. (2020, December 10). Eligibility. https://www.ato.gov.au/business/small-businessentity-concessions/eligibility/ Banco Central de Chile. (n.d.). Unidad de Fomento (english version). https://si3.bcentral.cl/estadisticas/Principal1/metodologias/EC/IND_DIA/ficha_tecnica_UF_EN.pdf

Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre. (2022). AUSTRAC. https://www.austrac.gov.au/

Bruce, A. (2011). Consumer Protection Law. Butterworths.

Cantatore, F. (2020). Pro Bono in Law Schools: Tracking the effect of pro bono service in an Australian university law clinic. International Journal of Clinical Legal Education, 27(1), 101-136. https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/clled27&div=6&id=&page=

Cantatore, F., & Crawford-Spencer, E. (2018). Effective intellectual property management for small to medium businesses and social enterprises: IP branding, licenses, trademarks, copyrights, patents, and contractual arrangements. Brown Walker Press/Universal Publishers, Inc.

Cantatore, F. (2015). Boosting law graduate employability: Using a pro bono teaching clinic to facilitate experiential learning in commercial law subjects, Legal Education Review, 25(1), 147-172. https://doi.org/10.53300/001c.6298

CiberCuba. (2020, June 16). Nuevas medidas en Cuba para los cuentapropistas en la etapa pos-COVID-19. https://www.cibercuba.com/noticias/2020-06-16-u1-e199370-s27061-medidas-cubacuentapropistas-etapa-pos-covid-19

Chile. Ministerio de Hacienda. (2020, April 24). Law 21 229. Aumenta el capital del fondo de garantía para pequeños y medianos empresarios (FOGAPE) y flexibiliza temporalmente sus requisitos. https://cchc.cl/uploads/archivos/archivos/ley-21.229.pdf

Chile. Ministerio de Economía. (2013, January 31). Law 20 659. Simplifica el régimen de constitución, modificación y disolución de las sociedades comerciales https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1048718

Chile. Ministerio de Economía. (2010, January 13). Law 20 416 Fija normas especiales para las empresas de menor tamaño. https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1010668

Chile. Ministerio de Economia, Fomento y Turismo. (2019). Unidad de Estudios, División de Política Comercial e Industrial. ELE-5: Principales resultados. [Fifth longitudinal survey of enterprises. Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism of Chile]. https://www.economia.gob.cl/wpcontent/uploads/2019/03/ELE-5-Principales_resultados.pdf

Chile. Ministerio de Economía. (2019, January 03). Law 21 131 Establece pago a treinta días. https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=1127890
https://www.sernac.cl/portal/617/w3-propertyvalue-20891.html

Chile. Ministerio de Economía. (2003, January 23). Law 19 857. Empresas Individuales de Responsabilidad Limitada. https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=207588

Chile. Ministerio de Economía. (1997, february 7). Law 19 496. Establece normas sobre protección de los derechos de los consumidores. https://www.bcn.cl/leychile

Chile. Ministerio de Hacienda. (1923, March, 07). Law 3 918. Sociedades de responsabilidad limitada. https://www.leychile.cl/Navegar?idNorma=24349

Chile. Servicio Nacional del Consumidor. SERNAC. (s. f.). Homepage. Retrieved on February 25, 2022. https://www.sernac.cl/portal/617/w3-propertyname-586.html

Chile Unemployment Rate 1991-2022. (n.d.). Macrotrends. Retrieved on February 23, 2022. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/CHL/chile/unemployment-rate

Chile. Ministerio de Economía, Fomento y Turismo. (s. f.). Superintendencia de Insolvencia y Reemprendimiento. SUPERIR. Retrieved on February 25, 2022. https://www.superir.gob.cl/

Commonwealth of Australia. (2018). Financial services and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) (Vol. 12). https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2018-05/apo-nid172366.pdf

Community Legal Centres Queensland. (2021, march 31). Homepage. https://www.communitylegalqld.org.au/

Connolly, E., Norman, D & West, T. (2012). Small Business: An Economic Overview. Reserve Bank of Australia.

Cuba. (2018, March 17). Decreto Ley No. 356.- Sobre el ejercicio del trabajo por cuenta propia. https://cuba.vlex.com/vid/decreto-ley-no-356-825316509

Cuba (2018, March29). Law 118. Ley de la inversion extranjera. https://www.gacetaoficial.gob.cu/es/ley-no-118-ley-de-la-inversion-extranjera#:~:text=%2D%20Esta%20Ley%20tiene%20por%20objeto,sociedad%20socialista%20pr%C3%B3spera%20y%20sostenible

Cuba. Congreso del Partido Comunista de Cuba-PCC. (2018). Cuba. Conceptualización del Modelo Económico y Social Cubano de Desarrollo Socialista. Plan Nacional de Desarrollo Económico hasta 2030: Propuesta de Visión de la Nación. Unesco. https://siteal.iiep. unesco.org/sites/default/files/sit_accion_files/siteal_cuba_0368.pdf

CubaNet. (2020, June 16). Régimen cubano anuncia medidas pos COVID-19 para cuentapropistas. https://www.cubanet.org/noticias/regimen-cubano-anuncia-medidas-pos-covid-19-para-cuentapropistas/

Development Bank of Latin America (CAF). (2019, April 25). America Latina y el Caribe 2019: politicas para pymes competitivas en la alianza del pacífico y países participantes de américa de sur. https://www.caf.com/en/currently/news/2019/04/sme-policy-index-latin-america-and-the-caribbean-2019/

Díez, S., Salas, M. F. & Contreras, C. (2015). Pro Bono Practices and Opportunities in Chile. In Latham & Watkins LLP, Global Pro Bono Survey (pp. 122-129). https://www.lw.com/admin/Upload/Documents/Global%20Pro%20Bono%20Survey/pro-bono-in-chile.pdf

Douglas, J. & Pejoska, A. L. (2017). Regulation and small business. Economic Roundup, 1-19. https://treasury.gov.au/publication/p2017-t213722a

Fangmann, A. (2020, April 29). Cuban working class facing disaster due to coronavirus-related tourism collapse. World Socialist Web Site. https://wsws.org/en/articles/2020/04/29/cuba-a29.html

Fangmann, A. (2019, February 27). New Cuban Constitution Recognizes Private Property. World Socialist Web Site. https://wsws.org/en/articles/2019/02/28/cuba-f27.html

Feinberg, R. E. & Piccone, T. (2014). Cuba’s Economic Change in Comparative Perspective. https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Cubas-Economic-Change-English-web-1.pdf

Fernández Estrada, O. (2020a, May 6). It is time for the New Update. Progreso Weekly. https://progresoweekly.us/it-is-time-for-the-new-update/

Fernández Estrada, O. (2020b, June 10). Implementing small- and medium-sized businesses. Progreso Weekly. https://progresoweekly.us/implementing-small-and-medium-sized-businesses/

Foreign Investment Promotion Agency. (2020). Investment opportunities in the Latin American Hub. https://tools.investchile.gob.cl/guiadelinversionista-idiomas

Gentilini, U., Almenfi, M., Orton, I., & Dale, P. (2020). Social protection and jobs responses to covid-19: A real-time review of country measures [Brief]. World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/33635

Gilfillan, G. (2015, December 1). Definitions and data sources for small business in Australia: a quik guide. Parlamentary Library, research paper series, 16
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1516/Quick_Guides/Data

Gonzalez-Corzo, M. A. & Justo, O. (2017). Private Self-Employment under Reform Socialism in Cuba. The Journal of Private Enterprise, 32(2), 45-82.

González-Corzo, M. & Justo, O. (2014, November 30). Self-Employment in Cuba since the VI Party Congress. ASCE. https://ascecuba.org/asce_proceedings/self-employment-in-cuba-since-the-vi-party-congress/

Government of Chile. (s. f.). Servicio de Cooperación Técnica. SERCOTEC. Retrieved on February 25, 2022. https://asesoriavirtual.sercotec.cl/Condiciones_De_Uso/Index

Grewal, J., Mohan, A. & Pérez-Cavazos, G. (2019, January). Effects of transparency on customer-supplier contracting. Paper presented at Hawai’I Accounting Research Conference, Hilo, Hawaii. https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/64916/HARC_2020_paper_249.pdf

Guzmán, L. (s. f.). Lista de clínicas jurídicas. https://uft.cl/images/noticias/2018/julio/nota-lun/clinicasjuridicas-lun-uft.pdf

Hemmings, P. (2014). Australia’s economy. OECD Observer,24(3), 30-31. shorturl.at/izHJ6

Hernández, L. M. (2019, May 22). Cuba’s Self-Employed Demand Legal Advice and Support. Havana Times. https://havanatimes.org/features/cubas-self-employed-demand-legal-advice-and-support/

International Labour Organization. (2015). Thematic Labour Overview Small Enterprises, Large Gaps: Employment and Working Conditions in Micro and Small Enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---americas/---ro-lima/documents/publication/wcms_423684.pdf

Kinsett, L. (2013, July 26). Business and commercial matters. https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/find-legalanswers/business-and-commercial-matters

KPMG. (2020, May 6). Cuba - KPMG global. https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2020/04/cubagovernment-and-institution-measures-in-response-to-covid.html

Kuritzkes, C. (2019, July 15). The End of Cuba’s Entrepreneurship Boom. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/07/15/the-end-of-cubas-entrepeneurship-boom/

Law Council of Australia. (2018). The Justice Project Final Report. https://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/justiceproject/access-to-justice

Lawright. (s. f.). Homepage. Retrieved on February 25, 2022. https://www.lawright.org.au/

Legal Aid. (2022). Homepage. https://www.legalaid.qld.gov.au/About-us/Policies-and-procedures/Grants-Policy-Manual/The-Merits-Test

Leiman, T. (2014). What’s ahead? Telling prospective students about the inherent skills they need to succeed. Paper presented at 17th International First Year in Higher Education Conference.

Leiman, T., Ankor, D. & Milne, J. (2015). Beginning in the First Year: Towards a Vertically Integrated Curriculum for Clinical Legal Education: A Practice Report. International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education, 6(1) 171-177. https://doi.org/10.5204/intjfyhe.v6i1.261

Linnenluecke, M. K. (2017). Resilience in business and management research: A review of influential publications and a research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 19(1), 4-30. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12076

Mesa Tejeda, N. T. (2017). Notes on the Categories of Foreign Investment in Cuba. Florida Journal of International Law, 29(1), 77-90. t.ly/beoE

Miranda, B. (2020, May 1). Coronavirus en Cuba: cómo funciona el agresivo modelo de vigilancia epidemiológica contra la covid-19. BBC News. https://bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-52496344

Morris, E. & Kelman, I. (2020, April 15). Coronavirus response: why Cuba is such an interesting case. The Conversation.
https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-response-why-cuba-is-such-an-interesting-case-135749

National Australia Bank. NAB. (2020, march 01). Two-thirds of Australian SMEs impacted by bushfires, NAB survey shows. https://news.nab.com.au/two-thirds-of-australian-smes-impacted-by-bushfires-nab-survey-shows/

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. OECD. (2020a). Australia Economic Snapshot. https://www.oecd.org/economy/australia-economic-snapshot/

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. OECD. (2020b). Chile Economic Snapshot. http://www.oecd.org/economy/chile-economic-snapshot/

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. OECD. (2019). OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Outlook 2019. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/34907e9c-en

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. OECD. (2018). Chile. OECD Publishing, https://doi.org/10.1787/fin_sme_ent-2018-18-en

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2018). Production Transformation Policy Review of Chile: Reaping the Benefits of New Frontiers, OECD Development Pathways, OECD Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264288379-en

Parra, C. M. & Haar, J. (2018). MNC-SME Linkages in Latin America [White Paper]. Retrieved from https://www.as-coa.org/sites/default/files/archive/MNC-SMEwhitepaper-compressed.pdf

Plastow, K. (2020). Small businesses face uphill battle as COVID-19 restrictions ease. The New Daily https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/consumer/2020/05/08/small-business-coronavirus-2/

Pro Bono Fundation. (2020). About us. https://probono.cl/quienes-somos/about-us/

Queensland government. (1973). Trusts Act 1973—Sect 23 Law and equity preserved. http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/ta1973132/s23.html

Queensland government. (2012, may 28). Partnership Act 1891. https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1891-007

Queensland Law Society. (2019). Access to Justice Scorecard: Evaluating access to justice in Queensland [Report]. https://www.qls.com.au/getattachment/3101be6e-fd79-45e0-bc56-fc77d12b0280/doc20200521_access_to_justice_19_report_fnl.pdf

Rodríguez, A. (2020, January 30). Cuban SMEs still waiting for law to regulate them. Cuba News. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/cuban-smes-still-waiting-for-law-to-regulate-them/

Rojas, R. D. (2019, September 7). Command Economies Don’t Promote Development, Cuba is No Exception. Havana Times. https://www.havanatimes.org/features/command-economies-dontpromote-development-cuba-is-no-exception/

Schaper, M. (2014). A brief history of small business in Australia, 1970-2010. Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, 3(2), 222-236. RePEc:eme:jepppp:v:3:y:2014:i:2:p:222-236

Schmieg, E. (2017). Cuba “Updates” Its Economic Model: Perspectives for Cooperation with the European Union (SWP Research Paper No. 6). https://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/research_papers/2017RP06_scm.pdf

Servicio de Impuestos Internos [Internal Revenue Service]. (n.d.). Infografía a las Pymes [SMEs infographic]. http://www.sii.cl/sobre_el_sii/info_empresas_pyme.pdf

Sweig, J. (2016). Cuba: What everyone needs to know (3rd ed). Oxford University Press.

Terrero, A. (2020, June 8). Cinco desafíos y una oportunidad [Five challenges and an opportunity]. Cuba Debate. http://www.cubadebate.cu/opinion/2020/06/08/cinco-desafios-y-una-oportunidad/

Thorpe, J. (2020). The possible economic consequences of a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. PWC Australia. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/possible-economic-consequences-global-novelcovid-19-pandemic-thorpe?articleId=6640761122603524096

World Bank. (2021, April 08). The World Bank In Chile. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/chile/overview

Universia Chile. (2019, December 3). Conoce las Clínicas Jurídicas universitarias en funcionamiento. Universia. https://www.universia.net/cl/actualidad/vida-universitaria/conoce-clinicas-juridicasuniversitarias-funcionamiento-1167192.html

Universidad de la Frontera. (2019, May 24). Catalogue FCJE-UFRO. https://issuu.com/fcjeufro/docs/cat_logo_fcje-ufro_espa_ol-ingl_s

University of New South Wales. (s. f.). Kingsford legal centre. UNSW. Retrieved on February 25, 2022. https://www.klc.unsw.edu.au/

University of Queensland. (2010). UQ Pro Bono Centre. School of Law. https://law.uq.edu.au/pro-bono

World Bank. (2020, April, 14). Map of sme-support measures in response to covid-19. [Text/HTML]. https://www.worldbank.org/en/data/interactive/2020/04/14/map-of-sme-support-measures-in-response-to-covid-19

Žebrytė, I., Fonseca-Vasquez, F. & Hartley, R. (2019). Emerging economy entrepreneurs and open data: Decision-making for natural disaster resilience. Journal of Small Business Strategy, 29(1), 36-47. https://libjournals.mtsu.edu/index.php/jsbs/article/view/1358

Zevallos, E. V. (2003, April). Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Latin America, CEPAL Review,79. https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/10928/1/79051068I_en.pdf