An International Cohort Comparison of Size Effects on Job Growth

47 Pages Posted: 12 Jan 2015

See all articles by Michael Anyadike-Danes

Michael Anyadike-Danes

Aston University - Aston Business School

Carl Magnus Bjuggren

Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)

Sandra Gottschalk

Center for European Economic Research (ZEW)

Werner Hölzl

Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO)

Dan Johansson

Örebro University School of Business

Mika Maliranta

ETLA, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy

Anja Myrann

University of Oslo - Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: October 1, 2014

Abstract

The contribution of different-sized businesses to job creation continues to attract policymakers’ attention, however, it has recently been recognized that conclusions about size were confounded with the effect of age. We probe the role of size, controlling for age, by comparing the cohorts of firms born in 1998 over their first decade of life, using variation across half a dozen northern European countries Austria, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the UK to pin down size effects. We find that a very small proportion of the smallest firms play a crucial role in accounting for cross-country differences in job growth. A closer analysis reveals that the initial size distribution and survival rates do not seem to explain job growth differences between countries, rather it is a small number of rapidly growing firms that are driving this result.

Keywords: birth cohort; firm age; firm size; firm survival; firm growth; distributed micro-data analysis

JEL Classification: L25; L26; E24; M13

Suggested Citation

Anyadike-Danes, Michael and Bjuggren, Carl Magnus and Gottschalk, Sandra and Hölzl, Werner and Johansson, Dan and Maliranta, Mika and Myrann, Anja, An International Cohort Comparison of Size Effects on Job Growth (October 1, 2014). ZEW - Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper No. 14-102, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2548377 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2548377

Michael Anyadike-Danes

Aston University - Aston Business School ( email )

Aston Triangle
Birmingham, B47ET
United Kingdom

Carl Magnus Bjuggren

Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) ( email )

Box 55665
Grevgatan 34, 2nd floor
Stockholm, SE-102 15
Sweden

Sandra Gottschalk (Contact Author)

Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) ( email )

P.O. Box 10 34 43
L 7,1 D-68161 Mannheim
Germany

Werner Hölzl

Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) ( email )

P.O. Box 91
Wien, A-1103
Austria

Dan Johansson

Örebro University School of Business ( email )

School of Business
Örebro, SE-70182
Sweden

Mika Maliranta

ETLA, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy ( email )

Lonnrotink. 4 B
FIN-00120 Helsinki, 00120
Finland
+358 9 609900 (Phone)
+358 9 601753 (Fax)

Anja Myrann

University of Oslo - Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research ( email )

Gaustadalleen 21
N-0317 Oslo
Norway

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