Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sdo/regaec/v30y2021i2_5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firm Growth: A review of the empirical literature

Author

Listed:
  • Vaz, Rolando
Abstract
The objective of this research is to review and unify the empirical literature that identifies the determining factors for firm growth. A list of 165 articles forms the backbone of the present review of the empirical literature on firm growth. Based on this review, we provide a synthesis of numerous determinant factors associated with firm growth. Specifically, we enumerate and detail the determining factors in three blocks: entrepreneur’s idiosyncratic features, firm’s internal factors, and factors external to the firm. The work provides a better understanding of the complex process of growth, shows the shortcomings in empirical research on the growth of the firm and presents directions for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Vaz, Rolando, 2021. "Firm Growth: A review of the empirical literature," Revista Galega de Economía, University of Santiago de Compostela. Faculty of Economics and Business., vol. 30(2), pages 1-20.
    • Handle: RePEc:sdo:regaec:v:30:y:2021:i:2_5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://revistas.usc.gal/index.php/rge/article/view/7190
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Guariglia, Alessandra & Liu, Xiaoxuan & Song, Lina, 2011. "Internal finance and growth: Microeconometric evidence on Chinese firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 79-94, September.
    3. Marco Cagetti & Mariacristina De Nardi, 2006. "Entrepreneurship, Frictions, and Wealth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(5), pages 835-870, October.
    4. Yao, Rui & Sharpe, Deanna L. & Wang, Feifei, 2011. "Decomposing the age effect on risk tolerance," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 879-887.
    5. Gaylen N. Chandler & Steven H. Hanks, 1994. "Founder Competence, the Environment, and Venture Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 18(3), pages 77-89, April.
    6. Pissarides, Francesca, 1999. "Is lack of funds the main obstacle to growth? ebrd's experience with small- and medium-sized businesses in central and eastern europe," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 14(5-6), pages 519-539.
    7. Aviad Pe'er & Ilan Vertinsky & Thomas Keil, 2016. "Growth and survival: The moderating effects of local agglomeration and local market structure," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 541-564, March.
    8. Gerrit de Wit & Haibo Zhou, 2009. "Determinants and dimensions of firm growth," Scales Research Reports H200903, EIM Business and Policy Research.
    9. Agustí Segarra & Mercedes Teruel, 2009. "Small firms, growth and financial constraints," Working Papers XREAP2009-11, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Oct 2009.
    10. Alex Coad, 2007. "Firm Growth: a Survey," Post-Print halshs-00155762, HAL.
    11. Jarillo, J. Carlos, 1989. "Entrepreneurship and growth: the strategic use of external resources," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 133-147, March.
    12. Frédéric Delmar & Johan Wiklund, 2008. "The Effect of Small Business Managers’ Growth Motivation on Firm Growth: A Longitudinal Study," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 32(3), pages 437-457, May.
    13. Kolvereid, Lars, 1992. "Growth aspirations among Norwegian entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 209-222, May.
    14. Evans, David S, 1987. "The Relationship between Firm Growth, Size, and Age: Estimates for 100 Manufacturing Industries," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 567-581, June.
    15. Akin Fadahunsi, 2012. "The Growth of Small Businesses: Towards A Research Agenda," American Journal of Economics and Business Administration, Science Publications, vol. 4(1), pages 105-115, March.
    16. Distante, Roberta & Petrella, Ivan & Santoro, Emiliano, 2018. "Gibrat’s law and quantile regressions: An application to firm growth," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 5-9.
    17. Binks, Martin R & Ennew, Christine T, 1996. "Growing Firms and the Credit Constraint," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 17-25, February.
    18. Alex Coad & Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Daniel Halvarsson, 2018. "Bursting into life: firm growth and growth persistence by age," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 55-75, January.
    19. Piergiuseppe Morone & Giuseppina Testa, 2008. "Firms Growth, Size And Innovation An Investigation Into The Italian Manufacturing Sector," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 311-329.
    20. Jun Du & Yama Temouri, 2015. "High-growth firms and productivity: evidence from the United Kingdom," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 123-143, January.
    21. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    22. Joris Meijaard & Maryse Brand & Marco Mosselman, 2005. "Organizational Structure and Performance in Dutch small Firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 83-96, August.
    23. Parker,Simon C., 2009. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521728355, March.
    24. Dutta, Dev K. & Thornhill, Stewart, 2008. "The evolution of growth intentions: Toward a cognition-based model," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 307-332, May.
    25. Duschl Matthias & Schimke Antje & Brenner Thomas & Luxen Dennis, 2014. "Firm Growth and the Spatial Impact of Geolocated External Factors," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 234(2-3), pages 234-256, April.
    26. Folta, Timothy B. & Cooper, Arnold C. & Baik, Yoon-suk, 2006. "Geographic cluster size and firm performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 217-242, March.
    27. Jovanovic, Boyan & MacDonald, Glenn M, 1994. "The Life Cycle of a Competitive Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(2), pages 322-347, April.
    28. Filipe Silva & Carlos Carreira, 2012. "Do financial constraints threat the innovation process? Evidence from Portuguese firms," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(8), pages 701-736, November.
    29. anonymous, 1995. "Moderate growth expected for the nation, Southeast in 1996," Regional Update, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, issue Oct, pages 1-4.
    30. Altenburg, Tilman & Meyer-Stamer, JORG, 1999. "How to Promote Clusters: Policy Experiences from Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(9), pages 1693-1713, September.
    31. Nichter, Simeon & Goldmark, Lara, 2009. "Small Firm Growth in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1453-1464, September.
    32. Alexander McKelvie & Johan Wiklund, 2010. "Advancing Firm Growth Research: A Focus on Growth Mode Instead of Growth Rate," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(2), pages 261-288, March.
    33. Alex Coad, 2018. "Firm age: a survey," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 13-43, January.
    34. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    35. Gundry, Lisa K. & Welsch, Harold P., 2001. "The ambitious entrepreneur: High growth strategies of women-owned enterprises," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 453-470, September.
    36. Miroslav Mateev & Yanko Anastasov, 2010. "Determinants of small and medium sized fast growing enterprises in central and eastern Europe: a panel data analysis," Financial Theory and Practice, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 34(3), pages 269-295.
    37. Becchetti, Leonardo & Trovato, Giovanni, 2002. "The Determinants of Growth for Small and Medium Sized Firms: The Role of the Availability of External Finance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 291-306, December.
    38. Barringer, Bruce R. & Greening, Daniel W., 1998. "Small business growth through geographic expansion: A comparative case study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 467-492, November.
    39. Gerke J. Hoogstra & Jouke van Dijk, 2004. "Explaining Firm Employment Growth: Does Location Matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(3_4), pages 179-192, April.
    40. Burger, Anže & Damijan, Jože P. & Kostevc, Črt & Rojec, Matija, 2017. "Determinants of firm performance and growth during economic recession: The case of Central and Eastern European countries," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 569-590.
    41. repec:bla:jindec:v:46:y:1998:i:4:p:453-88 is not listed on IDEAS
    42. Klepper, Steven, 1996. "Entry, Exit, Growth, and Innovation over the Product Life Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 562-583, June.
    43. Anderson, Alistair R. & Dodd, Sarah Drakopoulou & Jack, Sarah, 2010. "Network practices and entrepreneurial growth," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 121-133, June.
    44. Dietmar Harhoff & Konrad Stahl & Michaerl Woywode, 1998. "Legal Form, Growth and Exit of West German Firms—Empirical Results for Manufacturing, Construction, Trade and Service Industries," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 453-488, December.
    45. Michael Lubatkin & John Florin & William S. Schulze, 2003. "A social capital model of high growth ventures," Post-Print hal-02311715, HAL.
    46. Ostgaard, Tone A. & Birley, Sue, 1996. "New venture growth and personal networks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 37-50, May.
    47. McPherson, Michael A., 1996. "Growth of micro and small enterprises in southern Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 253-277, March.
    48. Lee, Chang-Yang, 2018. "Geographical clustering and firm growth: Differential growth performance among clustered firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(6), pages 1173-1184.
    49. Almus, Matthias & Nerlinger, Eric A, 1999. "Growth of New Technology-Based Firms: Which Factors Matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 141-154, September.
    50. Reeg, Caroline, 2013. "Micro, small and medium enterprise upgrading in low- and middle-income countries: a literature review," IDOS Discussion Papers 15/2013, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    51. Stam, Wouter & Arzlanian, Souren & Elfring, Tom, 2014. "Social capital of entrepreneurs and small firm performance: A meta-analysis of contextual and methodological moderators," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 152-173.
    52. Gregory Mankiw, 1995. "The Growth of Nations," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(1, 25th A), pages 275-326.
    53. Hall, Bronwyn H, 1987. "The Relationship between Firm Size and Firm Growth in the U.S. Manufacturing Sector," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 583-606, June.
    54. Alex Coad & Jaganaddha Tamvada, 2012. "Firm growth and barriers to growth among small firms in India," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 383-400, September.
    55. Hampel-Milagrosa, Aimée & Loewe, Markus & Reeg, Caroline, 2015. "The Entrepreneur Makes a Difference: Evidence on MSE Upgrading Factors from Egypt, India, and the Philippines," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 118-130.
    56. Boubakri, Narjess & El Ghoul, Sadok & Saffar, Walid, 2015. "Firm growth and political institutions," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 104-125.
    57. Davidsson, Per & Achtenhagen, Leona & Naldi, Lucia, 2010. "Small Firm Growth," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 6(2), pages 69-166, May.
    58. Michael Lubatkin & John Florin & William S. Schulze, 2003. "A social capital model of high growth ventures," Post-Print hal-02276699, HAL.
    59. Zhao, Liming & Aram, John D., 1995. "Networking and growth of young technology-intensive ventures in China," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 349-370, September.
    60. Ajit Singh & Geoffrey Whittington, 1975. "The Size and Growth of Firms," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 42(1), pages 15-26.
    61. Matthias Duschl & Antje Schimke & Thomas Brenner & Dennis Luxen, 2011. "Firm Growth and the Spatial Impact of Geolocated External Factors – Empirical Evidence for German Manufacturing Firms," Working Papers on Innovation and Space 2011-03, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    62. Parker,Simon C., 2009. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521899604, March.
    63. Barringer, Bruce R. & Jones, Foard F. & Neubaum, Donald O., 2005. "A quantitative content analysis of the characteristics of rapid-growth firms and their founders," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 663-687, September.
    64. Davidsson, Per, 1991. "Continued entrepreneurship: Ability, need, and opportunity as determinants of small firm growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 6(6), pages 405-429, November.
    65. Cuervo-Cazurra, Álvaro & de Holan, Pablo Martin & Sanz, Luis, 2014. "Location advantage: Emergent and guided co-evolutions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 508-515.
    66. Johan Wiklund & Holger Patzelt & Dean Shepherd, 2009. "Building an integrative model of small business growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 351-374, April.
    67. Zoltan Acs & David Audretsch & Pontus Braunerhjelm & Bo Carlsson, 2012. "Growth and entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 289-300, September.
    68. repec:arz:wpaper:eres2012-205 is not listed on IDEAS
    69. Sexton, Donald L. & Bowman, Nancy, 1985. "The entrepreneur: A capable executive and more," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 129-140.
    70. Cliff, Jennifer E., 1998. "Does one size fit all? exploring the relationship between attitudes towards growth, gender, and business size," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 523-542, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rolando Vaz, 2023. "Firm growth in the Portuguese footwear industry: the location dilemma," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(2), pages 407-427, April.
    2. Tjaša Bartolj, 2023. "Should Firms Strive for the Educational Diversity of the Workforce? Estimation of the Impact of Firms’ Educational Structure on Sales Growth and Exports," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440231, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rolando Vaz, 2023. "Firm growth in the Portuguese footwear industry: the location dilemma," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(2), pages 407-427, April.
    2. Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Is entrepreneurship necessarily good? Microeconomic evidence from developed and developing countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(6), pages 1453-1495, December.
    3. Gerrit de Wit & Haibo Zhou, 2009. "Determinants and dimensions of firm growth," Scales Research Reports H200903, EIM Business and Policy Research.
    4. Šarlija, Nataša & Bilandžić, Ana, 2018. "Does Innovation Matter for SMEs' growth in Croatia?," 6th International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship. New Business Models and Institutional Entrepreneurs: Leading Disruptive Change (Dubrovnik, 2018), in: 6th International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship. New Business Models and Institutional Entrepreneurs: Leading Disrupt, pages 356-375, Governance Research and Development Centre (CIRU), Zagreb.
    5. Cyron, Thomas & Zoellick, Jan Cornelius, 2018. "Business Development in Post-Growth Economies: Challenging Assumptions in the Existing Business Growth Literature," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 29(3), pages 206-229.
    6. Desislava Ivanova Yordanova, 2011. "Growth Plans of Bulgarian Enterprises: An Empirical Investigation of Individual, Organizational and Environmental Influences," International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, International Journal of Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, vol. 1(1), pages 1-30.
    7. Bilitis Schoonjans & Philippe Cauwenberge & Heidi Bauwhede, 2013. "Formal business networking and SME growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 169-181, June.
    8. Angelo Dossou-Yovo, 2015. "Entrepreneurial Growth Aspirations and Familiarity with Economic Development Organizations: Evidence from Canadian Firms," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 11(4), pages 161-184.
    9. Alexander McKelvie & Anna Brattström & Karl Wennberg, 2017. "How young firms achieve growth: reconciling the roles of growth motivation and innovative activities," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 273-293, August.
    10. Annie Royer & Josée St-Pierre, 2020. "Facteurs qui entravent ou facilitent l’expansion des PME en croissance rapide de l’industrie bioalimentaire," CIRANO Project Reports 2020rp-37, CIRANO.
    11. Bergner, Sören Martin & Bräutigam, Rainer & Evers, Maria Theresia & Spengel, Christoph, 2017. "The use of SME tax incentives in the European Union," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-006, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    12. Maksim Belitski & Tatiana Stettler & William Wales & Jeff Martin, 2023. "Speed and Scaling: An Investigation of Accelerated Firm Growth," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 639-687, May.
    13. Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Drivers of entrepreneurship and post-entry performance : microeconomic evidence from advanced and developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6245, The World Bank.
    14. Francesco Quatraro & Marco Vivarelli, 2015. "Drivers of Entrepreneurship and Post-entry Performance of Newborn Firms in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 277-305.
    15. Unger, Jens M. & Rauch, Andreas & Frese, Michael & Rosenbusch, Nina, 2011. "Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 341-358, May.
    16. Demir, Robert & Wennberg, Karl & McKelvie, Alexander, 2016. "The Strategic Management of High-Growth Firms: A Review and Theoretical Conceptualization," Ratio Working Papers 273, The Ratio Institute.
    17. Yannis Caloghirou & Ioannis Giotopoulos & Alexandra Kontolaimou & Aggelos Tsakanikas, 2022. "Inside the black box of high-growth firms in a crisis-hit economy: corporate strategy, employee human capital and R&D capabilities," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 1319-1345, September.
    18. Marko Peric & Vanja Vitezic, 2016. "Impact of global economic crisis on firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 1-12, January.
    19. Sarah Mahdjour, 2015. "Set Up For Growth? — An Exploratory Analysis Of The Relationship Of Growth Intention And Business Models," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(06), pages 1-31, December.
    20. Yazid Abdullahi Abubakar & Jay Mitra, 2017. "Knowledge spillovers and high-impact growth: Comparing local and foreign firms in the UK," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 145-176, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm growth; External factors; Internal factors; Firm size.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sdo:regaec:v:30:y:2021:i:2_5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Marisa Chas-Amil (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feusces.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.