ABSTRACT

Prior studies presented conflicting findings on the effect of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) concentration on growth rate. A theoretical model of industrial organisation suggested that imperfect competition – having fewer competitors – yields a higher growth rate. This research explores this relationship theoretically and empirically as related to SMEs in Israel. Findings show that having few competitors has a positive significant effect on growth in the number of employees, however, unexpectedly the subsample of SMEs with no competitors did not present any growth advantage. We apply a classic microeconomic analysis and demonstrate the conditions that support this empirical result.

摘要

先前的研究对中小企业 (SME) 集中度对增长率的影响提出了相互矛盾的发现。产业组织的理论模型表明，不完全竞争——竞争者较少——会产生更高的增长率。本研究从理论上和实证上探讨了与以色列中小企业相关的这种关系。结果表明，竞争对手少对员工数量增长有显着的积极影响，然而，出乎意料的是，没有竞争对手的中小企业子样本没有表现出任何增长优势。我们应用经典的微观经济分析并论证支持这一实证结果的条件。