Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/109092 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
IFN Working Paper No. 1062
Publisher: 
Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm
Abstract: 
It is frequently argued that policymakers should target high-tech firms, i.e., firms with high R&D intensity, because such firms are considered more innovative and therefore potential fast-growers. This argument relies on the assumption that the association among high-tech status, innovativeness and growth is actually positive. We examine this assumption by studying the industry distribution of high-growth firms (HGFs) across all 4-digit NACE industries, using data covering all limited liability firms in Sweden during the period 1997-2008. The results of fractional logit regressions indicate that industries with high R&D intensity, ceteris paribus, can be expected to have a lower share of HGFs than can industries with lower R&D intensity. The findings cast doubt on the wisdom of targeting R&D industries or subsidizing R&D to promote firm growth. In contrast, we find that HGFs are overrepresented in knowledge-intensive service industries, i.e., service industries with a high share of human capital.
Subjects: 
Entrepreneurship
Firm growth
Gazelles
High-growth firms
High-impact firms
Innovation
R&D
JEL: 
L11
L25
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
357.79 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.