IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v29y1997i3p419-442.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Assessment of the Small-Firm Debate in the United States

Author

Listed:
  • N Ettlinger

    (Department of Geography, 1036 Derby Hall, 154 North Oval Mall, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210-1361, USA)

Abstract

In this article I critically assess the ongoing debate regarding the role of small to medium-sized firms (SMEs) in economic development, and take the position that these firms are critical elements of local development and political economy. My discussion encompasses research findings from a variety of national contexts, but the general focus is on the United States. I dispute neither that large firms are important agents of change and wield tremendous power nor that SMEs may be problematic regarding either corporate competitiveness or social welfare. The stance adopted here is that questions are misguided because they focus on firm size as an independent variable to explain job generation or firm performance. Following a critical overview of data-related and analytical issues, I argue that problems as well as tactics conventionally associated with large firms may also characterize SMEs as they develop strategies to cope with new pressures in the global economy. Corporate culture, including the culture of both labor and management, as well as ability and willingness of labour and management to collaborate and implement new strategies, condition firm behavior and affect competitiveness, irrespective of firm size. Substantial variation in context (national as well as subnational) also affects firm behavior and prompts reevaluation and empirical substantiation of conventional assumptions about firm size that have governed the debate. Some SMEs may contribute to local economic development through a variety of processes. However, sanguine views about SME competitiveness must be tempered by the understanding that corporate welfare commonly occurs at the expense of worker welfare. This latter problem is considered inherent in the traditional Anglo-American Taylorist approach to production, irrespective of firm size. General policy guidelines are offered to integrate goals of production and consumption so that policies to develop corporate and worker welfare reinforce rather than counteract one another.

Suggested Citation

  • N Ettlinger, 1997. "An Assessment of the Small-Firm Debate in the United States," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 29(3), pages 419-442, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:29:y:1997:i:3:p:419-442
    DOI: 10.1068/a290419
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a290419
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a290419?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alcorta, Ludovico, 1994. "The impact of new technologies on scale in manufacturing industries: Issues and evidence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 755-769, May.
    2. David B. Audretsch, 1995. "Innovation and Industry Evolution," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011468, December.
    3. Hammer, Michael & Champy, James, 1993. "Reengineering the corporation: A manifesto for business revolution," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 90-91.
    4. Zoltan Acs & David Audretsch, 1990. "Innovation and Small Firms," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011131, December.
    5. Helper, Susan, 1991. "Strategy and Irreversibility in Supplier Relations: The Case of the U.S. Automobile Industry," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(4), pages 781-824, January.
    6. Markusen, Ann & Hall, Peter & Campbell, Scott & Deitrick, Sabina, 1991. "The Rise of the Gunbelt: The Military Remapping of Industrial America," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195066487.
    7. Ettlinger, Nancy & Tufford, Michelle, 1996. "Evaluating Small Firm Performance in Local Context: A Case Study of Manufacturers in Columbus, Ohio," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 139-157, April.
    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. Edward Feser, 2004. "Agglomeration, Enterprise Size, and Productivity," Working Papers 04-15, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    2. Yoke-Tong Chew & Henry Wai-Chung Yeung, 2001. "The SME Advantage: Adding Local Touch to Foreign Transnational Corporations in Singapore," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(5), pages 431-448.

    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. Talat Mahmood, 1997. "Survival of Newly Founded Businesses: A Log-Logistic Model Approach," CIG Working Papers FS IV 97-32, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    2. 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.
    3. David B. Audretsch & Martin A. Carree & Adriaan J. Van Stel & A. Roy Thurik, 2002. "Impeded Industrial Restructuring: The Growth Penalty," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 81-98.
    4. Josep-Maria Arauzo-Carod & Agustí Segarra-Blasco, 2005. "The Determinants of Entry are not Independent of Start-up Size: Some Evidence from Spanish Manufacturing," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 27(2), pages 147-165, September.
    5. Rui Baptista & Vítor Escária & Paulo Madruga, 2008. "Entrepreneurship, regional development and job creation: the case of Portugal," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 49-58, January.
    6. Mulligan, Robert F., 2004. "Fractal analysis of highly volatile markets: an application to technology equities," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 155-179, February.
    7. Landström, Hans & Harirchi, Gouya & Åström, Fredrik, 2012. "Entrepreneurship: Exploring the knowledge base," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(7), pages 1154-1181.
    8. Baldwin, John R., 1999. "Un portrait des entrees et des sorties," Direction des études analytiques : documents de recherche 1999121f, Statistics Canada, Direction des études analytiques.
    9. Florencia Garcia-Vicente & Daniel Garcia-Swartz & Martin Campbell-Kelly, 2017. "Information technology clusters and regional growth in America, 1970–1980," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(4), pages 1021-1046, April.
    10. Zoltán J. Ács & Pontus Braunerhjelm & David B. Audretsch & Bo Carlsson, 2015. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 7, pages 129-144, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. David Audretsch & Yvonne Prince & A. Thurik, 1999. "Do small firms compete with large firms?," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 27(2), pages 201-209, June.
    12. Fritsch, Michael, 2003. "Zum Zusammenhang zwischen Gründungen und regionaler Entwicklung," Freiberg Working Papers 2003/04, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    13. Baldwin, John R., 1999. "A Portrait of Entrants and Exits," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 1999121e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    14. R. Piergiovanni & E. Santarelli & L. Klomp & A.R. Thurik, 2002. "Gibrat's Law and the Firm Size / Firm Growth Relationship in Italian Services," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 02-080/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    15. Fritsch, Michael, 2008. "Die Arbeitsplatzeffekte von Gründungen : ein Überblick über den Stand der Forschung (The employment effects of new businesses : a survey of the current state of research)," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 41(1), pages 55-69.
    16. Domingo Soriano & Salvador Dobon, 2009. "Linking globalization of entrepreneurship in small organizations," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 233-239, March.
    17. Hongbin Li & Zheyu Yang & Xianguo Yao & Junsen Zhang, 2009. "Entrepreneurship and Growth: Evidence from China," Discussion Papers 00022, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Economics.
    18. Alessandro Arrighetti & Marco Vivarelli, 1999. "The Role of Innovation in the Postentry Performance of New Small Firms: Evidence from Italy," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(4), pages 927-939, April.
    19. Colombelli, Alessandra & Krafft, Jackie & Vivarelli, Marco, 2016. "New Firms and Post-Entry Performance: The Role of Innovation," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201602, University of Turin.
    20. Harabi, Najib & Meyer, Rolf, 1999. "Die neuen Selbständigen. Eine empirische Analyse für die Schweiz [The New Self-employed: An Empirical Analysis from Switzerland]," MPRA Paper 4417, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    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:sae:envira:v:29:y:1997:i:3:p:419-442. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.