Most businesses in Bislig City are very small, and the ones that grow tend to be bigger, older, and run by owners with more schooling. That is the main finding of a study of 236 local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) published this year in the International Review of Management and Marketing, an open-access academic journal.

The paper, "Resource and Human Capital Synergies as Determinants of MSME Growth: Evidence from Bislig City, Philippines," was written by Floresito Dumagan Calub of North Eastern Mindanao State University (NEMSU). It appears in Volume 16, Issue 2 of the journal (2026).

How the study was done

Calub surveyed owners and managers of registered MSMEs in Bislig. The sample was drawn in proportion to the micro, small and medium categories used by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Only businesses that had operated for at least one year and kept sales and profit records were included.

According to the paper, the survey was approved by the NEMSU Research Ethics Committee and done with formal permission from the DTI-Bislig field office. Questionnaires were handed out in person and collected within two weeks.

What Bislig's business sector looks like

Of the 236 businesses surveyed:

  • 188 (80 percent) were micro enterprises, 35 (15 percent) were small, and 13 (5 percent) were medium
  • 39 percent had been operating for five years or more, while 17 percent were in their first two years
  • 49 percent of owners or managers were college graduates, 32 percent had some college, 10.6 percent finished high school, 6.8 percent were vocational or technical graduates, and 1.7 percent reached only elementary school

The paper notes that education tracked closely with size. About 85 percent of medium enterprise owners and 69 percent of small enterprise owners held college degrees, compared with 43 percent of micro enterprise owners. All the medium enterprises, and most of the small ones, had been in business for at least five years.

What predicted growth

The study measured two things: sales growth and profitability, both based on owners' own ratings. It then tested how much three factors (business size, years of operation, and the owner's education) explained the differences.

Together, the three factors explained 41 percent of the variation in sales growth and 44 percent of the variation in profitability. Business size had by far the strongest effect on both. Years of operation and the owner's education also had smaller but statistically significant positive effects.

Medium enterprises reported the strongest profitability, while micro enterprises stayed near the middle of the rating scale.

What the author recommends

The paper draws three lessons for policy:

  • Scale matters. Credit and scaling-up programs should prioritize micro enterprises that show growth potential.
  • Experience compounds. Peer learning and mentorship can help younger businesses learn from older ones.
  • Education helps. Universities and local government units can strengthen entrepreneurial education, especially for micro entrepreneurs.

Limits of the study

The author lists several limits. The survey was done at a single point in time, so it shows links rather than cause and effect. Performance was self-reported, which can introduce bias. The study also did not look at outside factors such as market conditions, government programs, or the use of digital tools, and the paper recommends that future research cover these.

For Bislig business owners, the practical takeaway is familiar: most local businesses are micro enterprises, and the paper's numbers suggest that the jump from micro to small is where the biggest difference in growth shows up. Programs such as the DTI Negosyo Center's mentoring and SB Corp.'s small business loans are aimed at exactly that step.

Source: Floresito Dumagan Calub, "Resource and Human Capital Synergies as Determinants of MSME Growth: Evidence from Bislig City, Philippines," International Review of Management and Marketing, Vol. 16, Issue 2 (2026), pp. 435-444, published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.