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Tax avoidance practices wield a substantial influence on the fiscal landscape, shaped by the strategic decisions of businesses and their organizational capital (OC), a vital reservoir of strategic assets unique to each firm. This study delves into the nuanced relationship between corporate tax avoidance and OC within the Iranian context, while also examining the moderating effects of firm size and CEO overconfidence. Leveraging a dataset spanning from 2016 to 2021, comprising 142 firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange, and employing advanced multivariate regression techniques, our analysis unveils a significant and positive association between tax avoidance strategies and OC. Notably, this relationship remains consistent across firms of varying sizes, indicating that size does not significantly moderate this association. Furthermore, our investigation reveals the influential role of CEO overconfidence in shaping the intricate interplay between tax avoidance and OC. These findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on corporate tax strategies, offering insights applicable to firms of diverse sizes and magnitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to examine the association between firm-specific and macroeconomic determinants and environmental expenditures in the Indian manufacturing sector. Furthermore, it seeks to investigate the moderation effect of country-level governance and economic development on the association between macroeconomic, firm-specific, and environmental expenditures. The current study is based on 70 manufacturing firms for the period of 2011 to 2021. The dependent variable is environmental expenditures and the independent variables are firm-specific and microeconomic determinants. The results revealed that market capitalization and firm size have a positive and significant impact on environmental expenditures. On the other hand, inflation and the rule of law negatively and significantly affect environmental expenditures. Regarding the moderation effect, the results revealed that the rule of law and GDP positively moderate the association between inflation and environmental expenditures. Hence, this research has significant implications for corporate executives, financial experts, regulators, and other interested parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies in both developed and developing economies have reported that firm growth declines with firm age and size. However, review of literature showed that there are limited studies to empirically assess the validity of this fact on firm growth in developing countries. As such, this paper assesses the role of firm size and age on firm growth in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. The study employed a unique balanced three-year panel dataset of 191 manufacturing Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) in the province. As expected, the results showed a negative relationship between firm growth and size especially in the short term. However, contrary to the wider body of literature, the study established a positive relationship between firm age and growth. The study also established that older firms grow faster than their younger counterparts despite their size. On the other hand, small sized firms despite their age grow faster than large firms when employment and total assets were used as measures of firm size. It was recommended that the government should be cognisant of the complexity of SMMEs when crafting various sector policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can one predict entrepreneurship, an individual's participation in the founding of a new organization? We propose that the organizational context of an individual either accelerates or retards the likelihood of entrepreneurship, depending on the individual's role in the organization. The effects of role hinge, we argue, on the founder's charismatic identity, and the decoupling of this identity from the organization as it ages and grows. Our findings support the proposition that organizational properties that affect the likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur do so in opposite ways for organizational members and founders. We discuss how our theory and results demonstrate the value of a sociological perspective on entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been several studies about competitiveness and within this, company competitiveness. These studies include mainly the whole company spectrum in terms of company size from micro to large enterprises. There are studies which focus on large companies and the others on big and medium sized companies. There are studies which use mostly secondary data, and there is a few which use primary data. Although more studies do not take into consideration the fact that the operation mechanism and behaviour of small enterprises are different from the larger ones. Moreover, by using secondary data we are not able to look into the company, which does not ease the task of the researchers and business economics specialists. This is the reason for this study topic, which can fill a gap in the examination of enterprise competitiveness. In my analysis I focus on Hungarian small enterprises, and I do research using primary data. The research was done by a research team at University of Pécs Faculty of Business and Economics. I was also a member of this group, who analyses company competitiveness, but in my study I focused on the role of the companies in the online space. The online research of the companies was done with the co-operation of University of Pécs Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, the result of which was integrated into the final sample. I deal with its descriptive analysis in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- working capital management plays a vital role in determining the continuity of enterprises' business activities. Enterprises should manage their working capital efficiently to avoid excessive working capital investments and at the same time, to maintain their liquidity. This study aims to examine the determinants of working capital management and to test the different effects of the determinants of working capital management based on enterprise size and enterprise age. Research methodology -- the sample consists of 117 manufacturing enterprises listed at the Indonesian Stock Exchange for the years 2010-2017. Panel data regression was used to test the hypothesis. Findings -- the findings reveal that sales growth and economic growth determine working capital management. However, the effects of the determinants of working capital management differ depending on enterprise size and enterprise age. Specifically, economic growth is the only determinant that exhibits different effects on working capital management between different enterprise size and enterprise age subsamples. Meanwhile, besides economic growth, capital expenditure, and operating cash flow are the other enterprise-specific determinants that exhibit different effects on working capital management between the two enterprise age subsamples. Research limitations -- this study only measures enterprise size with total assets. Thus, we advise future studies to complement this proxy with other measures such as market value and the listing size criterion (main board vs development board). Further, it is necessary to analyse the non-linear relationship between leverage and working capital management to explain the positive effect of leverage on working capital management. Practical implications -- the empirical results suggest that manufacturing enterprises must focus more on their sales growth because it affects their ability to manage their working capital effi- ciently. Besides, younger manufacturing enterprises need to shorten their cash cycles that are longer relative to old enterprises. Originality/Value -- no previous studies have analysed the determinants of working capital management based on enterprise characteristics, especially enterprise size and age. Specifically, in the scientific literature, enterprise size and enterprise age mainly act as the dependent variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We identify two counteracting effects of credit access on productivity growth: on the one hand, better access to credit makes it easier for entrepreneurs to innovate; on the other hand, better credit access allows less efficient incumbent firms to remain longer on the market, thereby discouraging entry of new and potentially more efficient innovators. We first develop a simple model of firm dynamics and innovation‐based growth with credit constraints, where the above two counteracting effects generate an inverted‐U relationship between credit access and productivity growth. Then we test our theory on a comprehensive French manufacturing firm‐level dataset. We first show evidence of an inverted‐U relationship between credit constraints and productivity growth when we aggregate our data at the sectoral level. We then move to firm‐level analysis, and show that incumbent firms with easier access to credit experience higher productivity growth, but that they also experience lower exit rates, particularly the least productive firms among them. To support these findings, we exploit the 2012 Eurosystem's Additional Credit Claims programme as a quasi‐experiment that generated an exogenous extra supply of credits for a subset of incumbent firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study deals with some of the problems that American Multinational Corporations face in transferring management know-how to the developing area. The analysis shows that certain variables such as ownership, company size, nature of the technology, and product market characteristics seem to have an influential bearing on the management transfer process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy-related discussions increasingly view universities as so-called “engines of economic growth”. Recognizing that the economic impact of universities is dependent, at least in part, on the success of university-affiliated entrepreneurial ventures, this paper reviews the extant literature to understand how academic entrepreneurship is conceptualized and the extent to which it adopts an ecosystem approach. We find that scholars have largely focused on individual ecosystem elements and characteristics, eschewing strategic and systemic conceptualizations of entrepreneurship ecosystems. As a result, we argue that the ecosystem perspective has not been fully leveraged to influence policy decisions. We conclude by offering several concrete recommendations on future research directions that, if pursued, would further enhance our understanding of the economic impact of universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By 2010, the average U.S. state had passed 37 health insurance benefit mandates (laws requiring health insurance plans to cover certain additional services). Previous work has shown that these mandates likely increase health insurance premiums, which in turn could make it more costly for firms to compensate employees. Using 1996-2010 data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages and a novel instrumental variables strategy, we show that there is limited evidence that mandates reduce employment. However, we find that mandates lead to a distortion in firm size, benefiting larger firms that are able to self-insure and thus exempt themselves from these state-level health insurance regulations. This distortion in firm size away from small businesses may lead to substantial decreases in productivity and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the underlying Resource-Based View (RBV) perspective, the main objective of this study is to empirically examine the relationship of logistics capability and logistics performance, and the moderating effect of firm size on this relationship. This study adopted a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data from a total of 81 logistic service providers (LSP) registered with the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Directory of Malaysian Industries 2013, from three states (i.e., Kelantan, Terengganu, and Pahang) in Peninsular Malaysia. This study used the Pearson correlation and the moderated multiple regression (MMR) to test if the logistics capability has a significant positive effect on firm performance and the moderating effect of firm size on the relationship between logistics capability and firm performance. Findings of this study revealed that logistics capability has a significant positive relationship with logistics performance. Logistics service capabilities and flexible capabilities delivered by firms are vital for liner shipping services. Moreover, this relationship is significantly affected by firm size, which suggests that, in comparison, the inclusion of firm size (large vs. medium/small LSPs) in the logistics capability – logistics performance relationship has a significant moderating effect in changing the degree (volume) of performance. The moderating effect of firm size is shown to be capable of changing the nature of relationship and explains the conditions in which capability causes LSPs to perform better. The presence of a significant moderating effect of firm size (large and medium/small LSP firms) exceeded the linear relationship between logistics capability and logistics performance. The study has bridged the literature gaps in such a way that it offers empirical evidence on the moderating effect of firm size on the relationship between logistics capability and logistics performance using a Malaysian sample. In order to foster the economic development through effective logistics services, the logistics services development policies and programs should therefore focus on providing a supportive platform for logistics service providers to improve their capacities, which would ultimately lead to better performance and the sustainability of the logistics service providers in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing micro-data of Dutch local business units, we show that firm characteristics such as size, economic activity, the traded product portfolio, the focus of trade involvement and the geographic pattern of trade are important determinants of recovery following the trade collapse of 2008-2009, both in terms of speed and depth. Our findings suggest that post-crisis growth is faster for trade in goods further downstream of the value chain and thus closer to the final consumer. Trade recovery at the firm-level does not crucially hinge on locational factors such as the province in which a firm is located or regional revealed comparative advantages in particular product groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crime and corruption are ubiquitous worldwide. They have long been both cause and consequence of poverty and various other societal problems around the world, especially in underdeveloped countries. Crime and corruption take different forms, existing at all levels of society and deeply affecting people's lives, from underground exchanges inside or between businesses, to judiciary or police functions and municipal or national government departments. Undermining both political and economic development, crime and corruption can worsen income polarities and harm the poorest most. Currently there are quite many studies focusing on why firms pay for briberies; however, very few studies have considered how firms deal with crime. This paper empirically studies how firms in developing economies cope with both crime and corruption. To be specific, I look into the potential determinants on why and how much worldwide firms spend on protection payments. Using a unique firm-level dataset extracted from the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys from 2006 to 2014, this paper focuses on two types of protection payments made by firms operating in developing economies: (1) open security payments, intended to avoid criminal losses exoterically, and (2) underground bribery payments, intended to meet corrupt government officials' needs secretly. Overall data on 120 developing countries were extracted, and 105,282 observations became available. I start with ordinary least squares (OLS) to estimate the determinants of how much a firm decides to pay for protection. Furthermore, to alleviate the potential simultaneity problem embedded in the OLS method, I also use probit estimation for the firms' decisions to pay. Results obtained through multiple statistical and econometric examinations suggest that firm-level characteristics such as employment size, international business connections, labor quality, and expansion experience exert profound and differentiated influence on firms' payments. Meanwhile, bureaucratic inefficiency and social instability significantly raise firms' incentive to pay. Firms that are smaller with fewer foreign business connections, lower labor quality, and defective infrastructure tend to pay, and pay more, for protection, as do those firms that have grown faster and longer. Besides, fast expansion makes firms more vulnerable to extortion, and more likely to encounter with crime and corruption. Various tests confirmed the robustness of these findings. There are several important policy implications based on these findings. First of all, governments need to enhance the quality of the society's infrastructure. This will effectively decrease firms' extra security expenditures. Also, the government must endeavor to control corruption, especially among those small and less productive firms. Enhanced supervision and auditing procedures must be developed, and create a better growth atmosphere for all firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small enterprises are the driving force of any economy, and the engine of economic growth in both developed countries and countries in transition. One of the problems that small enterprises and entrepreneurs face is the lack of financial resources, or difficult access to them, for starting and financing the development of their entrepreneurial venture. The aim of the paper is to analyze the financing difficulties of small enterprises and entrepreneurs in the Republic of Serbia. 167 enterprises were surveyed and their responses were grouped into three groups depending on the size of an enterprise: small enterprises and entrepreneurs, medium enterprises and large enterprises so that by comparing the obtained results we could determine the differences in attitudes depending on the size of an enterprise and prove that small enterprises have limited access to financial resources. The research investigated financing constraints, financial services and approved loan conditions in relation to the size of an enterprise. The results showed statistically significant differences between small, medium and large enterprises in the majority of the observed parameters and that small enterprises and entrepreneurs have difficult access to financial resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the roles and significance of firms of various sizes in economic growth in China. This paper finds that the small firms have been the engine of growth in China, as increasing their share has been positively associated with economic growth. In contrast, we find that increasing the share as well as the number of big businesses have a significant and negative effect on economic growth, and that increasing the share of the medium-sized firms have negative or insignificant effect on economic growth in China. Most interestingly we find that the positive contribution of small firms and their increasing shares are largely owing to the expansion of the average size of them, rather than the increase in their absolute numbers of which the impact on growth is insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data for the period from 1855 to 1947 and the two sub-periods, 1855–1902 and 1903–47, the article examines whether the organic growth rates of 38 Swedish life insurance firms are independent of size, as predicted by Gibrat's (1931) Law of Proportionate Effects. Using panel unit root tests and panel Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) regression, the article finds a significant difference between the growth rates of small and large Swedish life insurance firms (with smaller firms tending to grow faster than larger firms), a result that clearly contradicts Gibrat's Law as a long-run tendency in the Swedish life insurance sector. significant influences were also found on firm growth from profitability, organisational form, reinsurance, the real rate of interest and the Swedish regulatory environment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This paper analyzes Colombia׳s space policy: its successes, its failures and what it still needs to achieve. The paper examines the interaction among the different players, and how this policy contributes to economic and social development of the country. And postulates that, unless a real national plan of action, with specific milestones and budget as well as a managing agency are developed, this policy may be in danger of disappearing. The Colombian Space Commission (Comisión Colombiana del Espacio, or CCE) was created by Presidential Decree 2442 in 2006. It is a multi-sectorial entity, in charge of coordinating, planning, and leading in the implementation of national policies for the development and application of space technologies. The CCE was also charged with the drafting of plans and programs in this field. The CCE began with only a few members (15) and today is comprised of 47 members: 13 ministries, 4 administrative departments, another 21 governmental entities and 9 universities, the latter acting as consultants. The Vice-President of the Republic is the President of the CCE. These different actors gave great importance to the development of Colombia׳s space sector, and 6 years later, they are continuing support and development the country׳s space policy. This analysis takes into account three aspects: first, achieving the objectives of the CCE: the creation and development of a national space policy for Colombia; secondly, focussing on “target groups” and “end users”; and thirdly, the “outcomes” or achievements to date. Some conclusions are worth highlighting: first, the warm reception and support of the CCE by both the public and private sectors on high levels, but the poor knowledge of the national space policy by the Colombian people and the small and medium companies. Secondly, in the context of public policy [9], the strategic plan called “National Policy in regard to Space Activities”, is caught between two phases: the formulation and decision-making regarding the program, and its implementation. And finally, the members of the CCE do not necessarily act in accordance with a national strategy, but follow their own interests, resulting in undue influence (and perhaps interference) in the development of a coherent national space policy. In brief, the author hopes that this first analysis of Colombia׳s experience with its Space Commission will serve as an example to other developing countries that also are seeking to develop their space sector, and implement a national space policy. Further, the author hopes that this analysis will allow the various politico-administrative actors “policy makers” in Colombia, as well as the general public, to realize that, while much has been accomplished, much still remains to be done. It is essential to keep alive the interest shown in space activities; otherwise, Colombia׳s space policy may become an “endangered species”, in danger of failing and disappearing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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High-growth companies, gazelles, are responsible for stimulating economic growth and development through extreme growth rates (employment, income, assets, value-added etc.). Consequently, exploring highgrowth companies may offer valuable insights into promoting dynamic entrepreneurship in contemporary society. In this paper, we are examining high-growth companies and their socio-economic contribution through a company's size, because the size dimension is an important characteristic affecting the level of employment and making important contributions to employment growth. Based on the national ranking of the 500 fastest-growing companies, based on the income statement data (sales growth in the 5-year period), we compare the gazelles with the average of all Slovenian companies. The findings provide evidence of the gazelles' considerable contribution to employment and the creation of an added (new) value. Company growth can also be measured on the basis of other parameters and therefore, in one part of our analysis, we limit the use of the measures to the relative employment growth - the DaBeg index. The results have shown that the growth patterns among the companies are very heterogeneous and that innovative fast-growing companies make a valuable socio-economic contribution. As such, gazelles require effective supportive measures of government policies, aimed at encouraging and promoting growth-oriented entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes trends regarding big businesses in 2000s in Russia. It focuses on two fundamental institutional changes, replacement of main business entity and main ownership model. Topics discussed are the economic crises in Russia in 1998-1999, integrated business groups in Russia and economic growth and expansion in big business entities.

This article investigates the state of open innovation in Slovenia, using qualitative and quantitative research. Based on in-depth interviews with domestic and foreign experts in the field of open innovation, we identify the main advantages and reasons open innovation should be introduced in Slovenian companies, the main barriers that companies can encounter in the implementation of open innovation and suggestions for the successful development and implementation of the concept among Slovenian companies. A quantitative analysis of Slovenian companies shows that differences exist in implementing open innovation dimensions among micro, small, medium and large firms, as well as between manufacturing and service companies. We conclude by suggesting the steps to be taken to stimulate the development and implementation of open innovation in Slovenian companies, the implications for managers and policy-makers, as well as the limitations of our study, and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The objective of this research is to identify Small Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Characteristics in Batam Free Trade Zone that have the ability to acquire debt. Sampling method used in this research is purposive sampling method. 79 selected samples were taken from SME that located in Batam during 2008-2009. The methods used for analysis were comparison analysis and logistic regression model. The result of this research indicates that firm size, firm growth, firm location, foreign shareholder involvement, type of industry, export activities, and educational background of top manager at SME in Batam have significant correlations to the SME''s ability to acquire a debt. The ability to acquire debt by SME in Batam is positively related to location, export activities and manager education but negatively related to size, growth, foreign shareholder and type of industry. The firm age and development strategy seems to have no significant impact on the SME''s ability to acquire debt. The groups which are SME''s using debt and not using debt can be distinguished by Mean Difference Analysis for independent samples. Based on the analysis, we concluded that firm location, export activities, background educational, foreign shareholder and firm size were the differentiating factors between two groups. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

abstract In a seminal article, Chinitz (1961) considered the effects of industry size, structure, and economic diversification on the performance of firms and regional economies. His inquiry suggested a related but conceptually distinct issue: how does the extent to which a regional industry or industrial sector is concentrated in a small number of firms affect the local performance of that industry? The question has not been addressed systematically in empirical research other than case studies, principally because accurately measuring regional concentration requires firm-level information. This exploratory study uses confidential plant-level data to gauge concentration in manufacturing industries at the regional scale across the continental United States, to explore changes over time in geographic patterns of concentration, and to investigate associations between regional industrial structure concentration and changes in employment. The implications for understanding the impacts of regional industrial structure on economic development processes are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examined the relationship between the medium and small enterprise (SME) sector and the economic growth in Brazil. The researchers investigated the significance of the size of the SME sector by the share of the level of human capital and SME employment measured by the mean years of schooling in the enterprises. They also assessed how employment and human capital influence the growth of the sector in the micro-regions of the country.

The paper explores controlling developments in the particular environment of an economy involved in a transition process for almost two decades. The results presented in the paper were founded on the empirical analysis of the most successful Croatian companies, which were used as the sampling population. The presentation of controlling department existence in Croatian companies and the analysis of management perception of controlling importance were performed together with research on controlling information sources and users. All the information presented allowed us to make some conclusions about controlling development and to assess its future. Also, recent controlling developments were analyzed in the sample of Croatian SMEs to evaluate its implementation in this group of entities and to assess the factors of potential influence on its development level in a given enterprise, such as: size of the enterprise, management performance (owner-managers or managers), intensity of accounting information use and relation to the business abroad. The results were evaluated considering the controlling evolution in developed economies. Thus, the controlling evolution was monitored in the Croatian corporate sector, from its "registering" stage, still dominant on the scene, to its "innovation" stage. In addition to the current findings, future perspectives on controlling development flows in Croatia were also assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many economic and non-economic variables such as income, wealth, firm size, or city size often distribute Pareto in the upper tail. It is well established that Gibrat's law can explain this phenomenon, but Gibrat's law often does not hold. This note characterizes a class of processes, one that includes Gibrat's law as a special case, that can explain Pareto distributions. Of particular importance is a parsimonious generalization of Gibrat's law that allows size to affect the variance of the growth process but not its mean. This note also shows that under plausible conditions Zipf's law is equivalent to Gibrat's law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research shows that financial development accelerates aggregate economic growth, economists have not resolved conflicting theoretical predictions and ongoing policy disputes about the cross-firm distributional effects of financial development. Using cross-industry, cross-country data, the results are consistent with the view that financial development exerts a disproportionately positive effect on small firms. These results have implications for understanding the political economy of financial sector reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the recent trends in, and outlook for, Brazilian outward foreign direct investment (FDI). It shows that outward FDI from Brazil has declined against that from other developing countries and it analyses the prospects for recovery. A survey of the international literature reveals that outward FDI benefits both the investing firm and the home country. It is thus relevant to ask why outward FDI by Brazilian firms is so low. In answer, the article surveys the literature on Brazilian outward FDI and presents new evidence in terms of the firm (Brazilian firms are small and they prefer the home market), product (commodities are the main export), technology (low innovation rate), industry (Brazilian firms generally belong to mature or competitive sectors) and the economy (unsuitable financial system and high interest rates). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developing countries, informal firms account for up to about half of all economic activity. Using data from World Bank firm-level surveys, we find that informal firms are small and extremely unproductive compared with even the small formal firms in the sample, and especially relative to the larger formal firms. Formal firms are run by much better educated managers than informal ones and use more capital, have different customers, market their products, and use more external finance. Few formal firms have ever operated informally. This evidence supports the dual economy ("Wal-Mart") theory of development, in which growth comes about from the creation of highly productive formal firms. Informal firms keep millions of people alive but disappear as the economy develops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of small and large businesses in economic growth. Analysis of the economic development role of small businesses showed that it is not the major source of job creation in terms of high-paying and stable jobs. According to the article, there is also no clear evidence that small businesses are more effective innovators than large firms. An economic development strategy's success is likely if it concentrates on the growth of existing local businesses, the author says.

Median household income is found to grow faster in counties with smaller manufacturing, retail, wholesale, and service establishments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between the relative size of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector, economic growth, and poverty alleviation using a new database on the share of SME labor in the total manufacturing labor force. Using a sample of 45 countries, we find a strong, positive association between the importance of SMEs and GDP per capita growth. The data do not, however, confidently support the conclusions that SMEs exert a causal impact on growth. Furthermore, we find no evidence that SMEs alleviate poverty or decrease income inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the role and importance of new business enterprises. There is no doubt about the important role that new firms play in the development of economies, and particularly, in the development of certain industry sectors and geographic .regions. Young firms are a major source of new jobs, sales and innovation in most economies. Paradoxically, young firms are fragile and entrepreneurs face serious barriers to survive and thrive during the gestation period. Business incubation centers have emerged as a popular growth policy to respond to this general concern.

The article presents information on the probability of introducing innovations by manufacturing firms at different stages of their lives. To analyze the evolution of this probability with firms' age, differences in average probability levels across activities and sizes have been controlled for. Results have shown the probability of innovation to be rather stable over time, varying considerably across industries, and increasing monotonically with size. In this setting, entering firms have been detected to present a high probability of innovating, slowly attenuated over the post-entry period of life.

How does the development of the financial sector affect industrial growth? What effect does it have on the composition of industry, and the size distribution of firms? What is the relative importance of financial institutions and financial markets, and does it depend on the stage of economic growth? How do financial systems differ in their vulnerability to crisis? This paper attempts to provide an answer to these questions based on the current state of empirical research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This research examines the relationship of Export Promotion Programs (EPPs), sponsored by a Portuguese Regional Association for Development on Trade and Industry, with firms' export performance. To investigate this, two models were applied using panel data analyses that relate export performance to variables such as participation in EPPs, age and size of firms. Data on 198 firms for the sampling period 2010 and 2018 was drawn from a Portuguese Regional Development Association and SABI (Iberian Balance sheet Analysis System) database. The results show that participation in EPPs does have a positive influence on the export performance of firms, especially for those firms with previous export experience, demonstrating the importance of using these programs. Findings also document that firm size relates positively export performance, whereas firms age show a negative effect on export performance, suggesting that larger firms with more resources positively influence exports and an increase in firms' age may increase their cultural inertia, inability to change strategies, decreasing their export performance, respectively. Finally, the participation in EPPs seems not to influence export performance for firms without previous export experience. The research contributes to the literature providing evidence on the role of EPP on firms' export performance behavior promoted by regional development associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Size composition of Eastern Caribbean businesses was found to be bimodal. Very few businesses employed 10 to 50 people, most had either a larger or a smaller number. This unexpected result emerged from a survey to determine management training needs in the region. The survey included 134 face-to-face interviews with business people. Respondents gave several possible explanations for this unusual pattern; among those mentioned were historical factors, barriers to entry, and to access to credit; racial stereotypes, and status perceptions. Respondents described the micro-business sector and types of management training and of education that would stimulate the growth of micro- businesses in contrast to training that would improve performance at larger companies. Respondents felt that restructuring the business sector of each economy, in terms of product mix as well as size composition, would help stimulate economic growth in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views on the criticism of his book "Lean and Mean." I strongly advocate special support for smaller companies as part of a strategy for encouraging the building of innovative networks. In this regard, I find the ongoing Commerce and Defense Department programs in the United States that promote technology transfer, manufacturing modernization and the use of dual use technologies, to upgrade the capabilities of especially the small and medium sized companies, to be quite positive developments.

The article presents the author's opinions on the book "Lean and Mean," by Bennett Harrison. In a far-ranging book "Lean and Mean," Harrison takes on the modern industrial advocates of the "small is beautiful" hypothesis. Increasingly, he sees industrial activity as being performed within international networks of organizations led by large firms. Some of these networks involve simple vertical relationships in which large firms sub-contract less advanced technological functions to smaller firms. The "Lean" part of the title reflects the recent tendency of many large firms to pare down by sub-contracting to smaller firms functions they previously performed themselves.

This article states that the issues of business size and economic power are not likely to be deceived into exaggerated expectations at this time. The literature of economic concentration has waxed progressively cautious about treating the size of firm as an independent variable. Contributing to this caution is the evidence from empirical studies of specific markets. Absolute size has proved less meaningful than relative size for determining the influence of a single firm or group upon market structure and behavior. Size leadership may be attained through growth in a single product line or it may develop from the accumulation of fractional positions across a broad segment of industry. A few large firms may appear to have the competition stabilized within a given industry and yet be effectively challenged with substitutes arising in industries hardly comparable either as to structure or character of operations. These and similar commonly recognized limitations greatly reduce the areas of generalization in which size of firm considered as an independent variable yields clear-cut principles for the guidance of public policy.

The article presents the author's opinions on the book "Lean and Mean," by Bennett Harrison. Harrison is to be congratulated for raising a series of tough and thought-provoking questions regarding the changing industrial structure in the United States and the world. By compiling earlier research by authors in a variety of disciplines with his own work, he argues powerfully that the case for small firms as the engine of economic growth is overstated. He presents considerable evidence suggesting that the focus of economic development officials on encouraging small enterprises, as well as industrial districts comprised of small firms, is misguided.

The article examines the role of large business enterprises in the economic development of industrialized nations. In a provocative new book "Lean and Mean," Bennett Harrison has persuasively argued that the large multinational corporation has not only managed to survive, but has actually prospered in the new global environment. The view that the cornerstone of the modem economy is the large firm dates back to the onset of the industrial revolution. According to the conventional wisdom, small firms do not play an important role in the economy, and their participation is expected to diminish in the future. The post war model of economic development was dominated by the large corporation using mass production technologies in an environment of stable prices.