No. 151: The economic contribution of high-growth firms: Do definitions matter?

Sven-Olov Daunfeldt, Niklas Elert och Dan Johansson
May, 2010

Abstract: Prior studies have defined high-growth firms (HGFs) in terms of sales or employment, and analyzed their contribution to employment growth. We define HGFs by employment and sales and add definitions of value added and productivity. We examine the contribution of HGFs to employment  growth, economic growth, productivity growth, and sales growth. All HGFs give a disproportionately large positive contribution to economic growth and most also give large positive contributions to growth in employment, productivity and sales. Although HGFs of different definitions are usually not the same firms, young firms are more likely to be HGFs irrespective of definition.

 

Keywords: Gazelles; Firm growth; High-impact firms

JEL-code: D24; L25; L26

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