The aim of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the evolution of small firm performance. We do so by studying performance changes on a two dimensional "growth– profitability performance space". It is well established that both growth and profitability are important dimensions of...

Given that the long-term goal is to build a body of generalizable knowledge, so that each specific study does not have to start from scratch, I see a number of problems within the field of entrepreneurship and small business research. It should be stated from the start that the view of the...

The purpose of this study is to identify key institutional determinants of firm emergence and growth. We do this using various types of data from Sweden. A characterization of a number of institutions and policy measures shows that they are likely to have contributed to an environment that...

Empirical research conducted on economic sectors in the U.S., Germany, Australia and Scotland has shown that factors such as age, size, location, legal form, and industry are related to business growth rates. Much of this research has focused on manufacturing firms thus providing little...

Davis, Haltiwanger & Schuh (1993; 1996) suggested that the belief that small firms are major contributors of new jobs is largely based on methodological flaws. In particular, their reasoning about the "regression fallacy", i.e., that temporary fluctuations in size systematically biases estimates in...

The purpose of this book chapter is to present empirical findings and interpretations concerning the role of small and new firms for job creation and economic well-being from a regional perspective. More specifically, we will deal with the following questions: • Are small firms...

This paper reports on a comprehensive study of the role of SMEs for job creation and regional economic well-being in Sweden during the 1990-93 recession period as well as the years immediately preceding and following that period. It is found that SMEs were over-represented as job creators across...

Understanding the sources of business growth is central to both the fields of entrepreneurship and strategy. This is a logical endeavor given the positive macro-level outcomes of firm growth, such as the creation of new jobs, an increase in tax revenues, the provision of innovations, and overall...

Business growth has become a major theme in the rapidly expanding field of entrepreneurship research. Entrepreneurship researchers are not alone, however, in showing an interest in business growth. Therefore, there is reason to ask whether and under what conditions the study of growth really...

The purpose of this paper was to examine the factors affecting the future firm size expectations of nascent entrepreneurs. This was done by testing a decision model on a unique data set composed of a random sample of nascent entrepreneurs. The proposed model is based on four different components...