Research on Small Firm Growth: A Review. Paper presented at the 35th EISB Conference

Studies of small firm growth are no longer short in supply. On the contrary, as demonstrated by recent reviews, dozens and dozens of empirical research studies on this topic can be compiled. This does not necessarily mean that we know everything we want to know about small firm growth. In fact, all of the authors of recent review articles complain that a coherent picture is not easy to distil from the material. This is likely due to differences in theoretical and epistemological perspectives and interpretations; operationalizations; empirical contexts; modelling and analysis approaches, as well as the inherent complexity of the phenomenon itself. Thus, not only a superficial but also a rather deep reading of the extant literature easily leaves the reader confused and wondering. Admitting that, we will focus in this paper on the fact that significant progress has been made and that we do actually know quite a bit now about the phenomenon of small firm growth; its antecedents and effects, and how it can or should be studied. It is not possible within the confines of a conference paper—and possibly outside the capacity of these authors—to give a complete account of that knowledge. What we will attempt is a summar