The paper studies the dynamics of firm growth and firm size distributions in the pharmaceutical industry from 1950 to 2003 and in the biotechnology industry from the early 1980's to 2003. Growth dynamics are studied in the context of how the size composition of firms changes, how innovation...

Firms across sectors and regions are highly skewed in their ability to engage with innovation, and even more skewed in their ability to translate investments in innovation into higher growth. Recent attention has been placed on the importance of ‘high growth firms' (HGF) for innovation policy....