High-Growth Young Firms in Italy

Abstract

High-growth firms (HGFs) are crucial for job creation and economic growth. In this paper, we study their characteristics in Italy using unique firm-level data. HGFs, defined as the top 10 per cent of the distribution of new businesses’ three-year revenue growth rate, generate 68 per cent of their cohorts’ employment growth and 78 per cent of revenue growth. HGFs are more prevalent in digital-intensive sectors and geographically concentrated in specific regions. They are intangible-intensive, invest more and are more innovative, in the sense that they file more patents and are more likely to be innovative startups. HGF founders are younger, more mobile (especially from South to North), and more likely to have prior entrepreneurial experience. These findings inform policies to promote HGF creation and address regional disparities.

Keywords: high-growth firms, entrepreneurship, innovation, digital intensity, internal mobility

JEL Classification: J61, L26, M13, O31