IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v60y2023i2d10.1007_s11187-022-00614-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

High-growth firms’ contribution to aggregate productivity growth

Author

Listed:
  • Márta Bisztray

    (Budapest and Corvinus University Budapest, CERGE-EI Foundation, Teaching Fellow)

  • Francesca de Nicola

    (World Bank)

  • Balázs Muraközy

    (University of Liverpool Management School, Liverpool and KRTK)

Abstract

This paper investigates the contribution of high-growth firms (HGFs) to aggregate productivity growth, using Hungarian firm-level data. Three stylized facts emerge. First, output-based HGFs substantially outperform employment-based ones in terms of their productivity contribution: on average, sales-based HGFs contribute 5 times as much as employment-based ones. Further, the contribution of employment-based HGFs is negative in 48-50% of industry-years, compared to 25-31% for sales-based HGFs. Second, HGFs tend to contribute to productivity growth only during their high-growth phase but not afterwards. Third, HGFs’ contribution to productivity growth is higher in industries with more effective reallocation and with more young firms, but none of these are strong predictors of the HGFs’ contribution. Finally, we present a simple benchmark model to show that these patterns arise naturally under realistic correlation structures.

Suggested Citation

  • Márta Bisztray & Francesca de Nicola & Balázs Muraközy, 2023. "High-growth firms’ contribution to aggregate productivity growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 771-811, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:60:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s11187-022-00614-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-022-00614-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-022-00614-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-022-00614-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Wit, Gerrit, 2005. "Firm size distributions: An overview of steady-state distributions resulting from firm dynamics models," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 23(5-6), pages 423-450, June.
    2. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2017. "The Causes and Costs of Misallocation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 151-174, Summer.
    3. John Haltiwanger & Ron S. Jarmin & Robert Kulick & Javier Miranda, 2016. "High Growth Young Firms: Contribution to Job, Output, and Productivity Growth," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Entrepreneurial Businesses: Current Knowledge and Challenges, pages 11-62, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Dan Johansson & Daniel Halvarsson, 2015. "Using the eurostat-OECD definition of high-growth firms: a cautionary note," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(1), pages 50-56, April.
    5. David Rezza Baqaee & Emmanuel Farhi, 2020. "Productivity and Misallocation in General Equilibrium," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(1), pages 105-163.
    6. Alex Coad & Tom Broekel, 2012. "Firm growth and productivity growth: evidence from a panel VAR," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(10), pages 1251-1269, April.
    7. 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.
    8. Roc Armenter & Mikl?s Koren, 2014. "A Balls-and-Bins Model of Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(7), pages 2127-2151, July.
    9. Delmar, Frédéric & McKelvie, Alexander & Wennberg, Karl, 2013. "Untangling the relationships among growth, profitability and survival in new firms," Ratio Working Papers 205, The Ratio Institute.
    10. Lucia Foster & John Haltiwanger & Chad Syverson, 2008. "Reallocation, Firm Turnover, and Efficiency: Selection on Productivity or Profitability?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(1), pages 394-425, March.
    11. Paloma Lopez-Garcia & Sergio Puente, 2012. "What makes a high-growth firm? A dynamic probit analysis using Spanish firm-level data," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 1029-1041, November.
    12. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Dan Johansson & Daniel Halvarsson, 2015. "Using the eurostat-OECD definition of high-growth firms: a cautionary note," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(1), pages 50-56, April.
    13. Magnus Henrekson & Dan Johansson, 2010. "Gazelles as job creators: a survey and interpretation of the evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 227-244, September.
    14. Stefano Bianchini & Giulio Bottazzi & Federico Tamagni, 2017. "What does (not) characterize persistent corporate high-growth?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 633-656, March.
    15. Werner Hölzl, 2014. "Persistence, survival, and growth: a closer look at 20 years of fast-growing firms in Austria," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 23(1), pages 199-231, February.
    16. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    17. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2009. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1403-1448.
    18. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Daniel Halvarsson, 2015. "Are high-growth firms one-hit wonders? Evidence from Sweden," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 361-383, February.
    19. Alex Coad & Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Werner Hölzl & Dan Johansson & Paul Nightingale, 2014. "High-growth firms: introduction to the special section," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 23(1), pages 91-112, February.
    20. Giorgio Barba Navaretti & Davide Castellani & Fabio Pieri, 2014. "Age and firm growth: evidence from three European countries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 823-837, December.
    21. Daniel A. Ackerberg & Kevin Caves & Garth Frazer, 2015. "Identification Properties of Recent Production Function Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 2411-2451, November.
    22. Vivian Mohr & Elizabeth Garnsey & Gregory Theyel, 2014. "The role of alliances in the early development of high-growth firms," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 23(1), pages 233-259, February.
    23. Autio, Erkko & Rannikko, Heikki, 2016. "Retaining winners: Can policy boost high-growth entrepreneurship?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 42-55.
    24. Jurgen A. Doornik & Henrik Hansen, 2008. "An Omnibus Test for Univariate and Multivariate Normality," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 70(s1), pages 927-939, December.
    25. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Niklas Elert & Dan Johansson, 2014. "The Economic Contribution of High-Growth Firms: Do Policy Implications Depend on the Choice of Growth Indicator?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 337-365, September.
    26. Jaap W. B. Bos & Erik Stam, 2014. "Gazelles and industry growth: a study of young high-growth firms in The Netherlands," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 23(1), pages 145-169, February.
    27. Dean Shepherd & Johan Wiklund, 2009. "Are we Comparing Apples with Apples or Apples with Oranges? Appropriateness of Knowledge Accumulation across Growth Studies," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(1), pages 105-123, January.
    28. Anne Marie Gleeson & Frances Ruane, 2009. "How important is exporting and ownership to productivity growth? Micro Evidence from a Small Open Economy," Applied Economics Quarterly (formerly: Konjunkturpolitik), Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 55(3), pages 197-218.
    29. Metcalfe, J S, 1994. "Competition, Fisher's Principle and Increasing Returns in the Selection Process," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 327-346, November.
    30. Coad, Alex, 2007. "Testing the principle of `growth of the fitter': The relationship between profits and firm growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 370-386, September.
    31. Taelim Choi & Anil Rapusinga & John C. Robertson & Nancy Green Leigh, 2017. "The Effects of High Growth on New Business Survival," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 47(1), pages 1-23, Winter.
    32. Eva Christine Erhardt, 2021. "Measuring the persistence of high firm growth: choices and consequences," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 451-478, January.
    33. Alex Coad, 2018. "Firm age: a survey," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 13-43, January.
    34. Cristina Guillamón & Enrique Moral-Benito & Sergio Puente, 2017. "High growth firms in employment and productivity: dynamic interactions and the role of financial constraints?," Working Papers 1718, Banco de España.
    35. Eric Bartelsman & John Haltiwanger & Stefano Scarpetta, 2013. "Cross-Country Differences in Productivity: The Role of Allocation and Selection," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 305-334, February.
    36. Delmar, Frederic & Davidsson, Per & Gartner, William B., 2003. "Arriving at the high-growth firm," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 189-216, March.
    37. Gabriele Rovigatti & Vincenzo Mollisi, 2018. "Theory and practice of total-factor productivity estimation: The control function approach using Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 18(3), pages 618-662, September.
    38. Kang, Kichun, 2017. "Identifying the dispersion of the Pareto productivity distribution in international trade," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 108-111.
    39. Coad, Alex & Segarra, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2016. "Innovation and firm growth: Does firm age play a role?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 387-400.
    40. Andrey Stoyanov & Nikolay Zubanov, 2012. "Productivity Spillovers across Firms through Worker Mobility," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 168-198, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Márta Bisztray & Francesca de Nicola & Balázs Muraközy, 2020. "Industry dynamics and high-growth firms' contribution to productivity growth," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 2047, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    2. Daniele Moschella & Federico Tamagni & Xiaodan Yu, 2019. "Persistent high-growth firms in China’s manufacturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 573-594, March.
    3. Kovács, Olivér, 2020. "Gazellák az iparpolitika tükrében, I [Gazelles and industrial policy, Part 1]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 54-87.
    4. Ho-Chang Chae, 2024. "In search of gazelles: machine learning prediction for Korean high-growth firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 243-284, January.
    5. Raysa Geaquinto Rocha & João J. Ferreira, 2022. "Gazelles (High-Growth) Companies: a Bibliometric Science Map of the Field," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(4), pages 2911-2934, December.
    6. Alex Coad & Stjepan Srhoj, 2020. "Catching Gazelles with a Lasso: Big data techniques for the prediction of high-growth firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 541-565, October.
    7. Erhardt, Eva Christine, 2018. "Firm performance after high growth: A comparison of absolute and relative growth measures," MPRA Paper 88077, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Eva Christine Erhardt, 2021. "Measuring the persistence of high firm growth: choices and consequences," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 451-478, January.
    9. Sorin Gabriel Anton, 2019. "Leverage and firm growth: an empirical investigation of gazelles from emerging Europe," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 209-232, March.
    10. Alex Coad & Gregory Scott, 2018. "High-growth firms in Peru," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 37(75), pages 671-696, May.
    11. Silviano Esteve-Pérez & Fabio Pieri & Diego Rodriguez, 2022. "One swallow does not make a summer: episodes and persistence in high growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(3), pages 1517-1544, March.
    12. Justin J. P. Jansen & Ciaran Heavey & Tom J. M. Mom & Zeki Simsek & Shaker A. Zahra, 2023. "Scaling‐up: Building, Leading and Sustaining Rapid Growth Over Time," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 581-604, May.
    13. Segundo Camino-Mogro & Mary Armijos & Paul Vera-Gilces, 2022. "High-growth firms and international trade: evidence from Ecuador," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 299-332, January.
    14. Suzanne Mawson, 2018. "Customer perceived value in high growth firms," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 37(75), pages 755-778, December.
    15. Aradhna Aggarwal & Takahiro Sato, 2015. "Identifying High Growth Firms in India: An Alternative Approach," Discussion Paper Series DP2015-14, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    16. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Niklas Elert & Dan Johansson, 2014. "The Economic Contribution of High-Growth Firms: Do Policy Implications Depend on the Choice of Growth Indicator?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 337-365, September.
    17. Marcio,Cruz & Baghdadi,Leila & Arouri,Hassen, 2020. "The Dynamics of High-Growth Firms : Evidence from Tunisia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9145, The World Bank.
    18. Eva Christine Erhardt, 2022. "Prevalence and Persistence of High-Growth Entrepreneurship: Which Institutions Matter Most?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 297-332, June.
    19. Tran, Hien Thu, 2019. "Institutional quality and market selection in the transition to market economy," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1-1.
    20. 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.

    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:kap:sbusec:v:60:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s11187-022-00614-9. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.