Small business prevalence boosts health?

A recent study has thrown up an unlikely benefit of small businesses, namely that they appear to promote good health.

Conducted by a team of sociologists from LSU and Baylor University, the research found that counties and parishes with a greater concentration of small, locally-owned businesses tended to show lower rates of mortality, obesity and diabetes within the population.

These illnesses were found to be higher among towns with a reliance of large companies with 'absentee' owners.

A total of 3,060 counties and parishes in the contiguous US were monitored for the study, which has been published online in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economic and Society.

Charles Tolber PhD, chair of the Baylor sociology department, commented: “Some communities appear to have thriving small business sectors that feature entrepreneurial cultures that promote public health.

“A place like this has a can-do climate, a practical problem-solving approach in which a community takes control of its own destiny.”

In the past, communities in both the US and the UK have attempted to draw in larger businesses in order to provide highly-paid jobs and some level of employment security for the town.

However, it appears that despite the higher risks associated with small businesses, it could well be the case that they offer so many other benefits that the stress levels associated with working with small businesses are beneficial to the community.