Empirical work on micro and small firms has focused on developed countries. The little work that exists on developing countries is all too often based on small samples taken from ad hoc questionnaires. The census data we analyze are fairly representative of the structure of small business in...

Earlier studies have shown that entrepreneurs play a key role in shaping regional development. Innovator networks where these entrepreneurs are members of have been identified as one among many critical factors for their firms' success. This paper intents to go one step further and analyses in...

Traditionally, much of the research on economic growth drivers has been focused on small and medium enterprises. In recent years the academic focus on small businesses has shifted to a particular group of firms that are interesting from an economic growth and policy development perspective,...

The novel Finnish Longitudinal OWNer-Employer-Employee (FLOWN) database was used to analyze how the characteristics of owners and employees relate to firm performance as determined by labor productivity, survival and employment growth. Focusing on the role of the owner’s formal education and...

Die vorliegende Studie widmet sich der Entwicklung neugegründeter Unternehmen in den ersten vier Jahren. Ziel war es anhand von verschiedenen Erfolgsdimensionen (Überleben am Markt, Deckung des Lebensunterhaltes und Schaffung von Arbeitsplätzen) zu analysieren, wie sich die Unternehmen in der...

Analyzing data on all U.S. employers in a cohort of entering firms, we document a highly skewed size distribution, such that the largest 5% account for over half of cohort employment at firm birth and more than two-thirds at firm age 7. Little of the size variation is accounted for by industry...

Using novel data from micro, small, and medium firms in Viet Nam, we estimate the relationship between behavioural and personality traits of owners/managers - risk attitudes, locus of control, and innovativeness - and firm-level decisions. We extend the analysis beyond standard metrics of firm...