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Gazelles as job creators: a survey and interpretation of the evidence

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  • Magnus Henrekson
  • Dan Johansson

Abstract

It is often claimed that small and young firms account for a disproportionately large share of net employment growth. We conduct a meta analysis of the empirical evidence regarding whether net employment growth rather is generated by a few rapidly growing firms – so-called Gazelles – that are not necessarily small and young. Gazelles are found to be outstanding job creators. They create all or a large share of new net jobs. On average, Gazelles are younger and smaller than other firms, but it is young age more than small size that is associated with rapid growth. Gazelles also seem to be overrepresented in services.
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  • 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.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:35:y:2010:i:2:p:227-244
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-009-9172-z
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; Firm growth; Flyers; Gazelles; High-growth firms; High-impact firms; Job creation; Rapidly growing firms; D21; L25; L26; M13; O10; O40;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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