High Growth Firms and Gazelles in Denmark Ditte Rude Petersen FORA
Copyright 2006 © FORA, Langelinie Allé 17, 2100 Kbh Ø - Measuring High Growth Firms and Gazelles >The Danish results >Employment vs. turnover based measure >The value of international comparable data - example from the Danish Entrepreneurship Index
Copyright 2006 © FORA, Langelinie Allé 17, 2100 Kbh Ø - Number of firmsShare All firms with 10+ employees High Growth firms - turnover1.4306,6 High Growth firms - employment7213,3 New firms with 10+ employees4.645 Gazelles - turnover48510,4 Gazelles - employment2816,1 >The preliminary results; > Mergers, acquisitions and take-overs are not considered > First year has not been removed from sample High growth firms and gazelles, Measuring High Growth Firms and Gazelles
Copyright 2006 © FORA, Langelinie Allé 17, 2100 Kbh Ø - The Challenges when measuring Gazelles… >The number of new firms is overrated; New CVR number (business register number) = New firm birth >Correcting for this, the number of Gazelles is somewhere between 62 and 281… t – 3 t t – 8 Period of start-up Observation period New CVR – but not a real employer birth
Copyright 2006 © FORA, Langelinie Allé 17, 2100 Kbh Ø - Looking at High Growth Firms… >The thresholds seem to be adequate; High growth rate (employment) = 3,3 pct. Due to confidentiality 4 observations (721) was removed when looking at the 2 digit NACE sector level. High Growth Firms (employment base)2003 High Growth rate (Employment base) 64Post and telecommunications13,21 73Research and development12,24 72Computer and related activities9,92 >Gazelles..? Maybe introducing Mini Gazelles; 5+ employees
Copyright 2006 © FORA, Langelinie Allé 17, 2100 Kbh Ø - >The question is whether the two measures capture the same firms? >First of all, it can be observed that there are twice as many HGT as HGE. This can be explained by a greater variance in turnover growth; Employment and turnover growth among all firms with 10+ employees, Mean Standard deviationVariance Employment growth-4,9107, Turnover growth14,6219, Employment vs. Turnover based measure
Copyright 2006 © FORA, Langelinie Allé 17, 2100 Kbh Ø - >Secondly, it can be observed that it is the same sectors that generate High Growth Firms in Denmark regardless of measure… Employment vs. Turnover based measure
Copyright 2006 © FORA, Langelinie Allé 17, 2100 Kbh Ø - Employment vs. Turnover based measure High Growth firms, Number of firmsShare Revenue1430 Employment721 Both42058,3 High Growth firms, Number of firmsShare Revenue721 Employment721 Both28339,3 Intersection of sets between employment and turnover based measure >However, looking at the firm level the conclusion is bit different…
Copyright 2006 © FORA, Langelinie Allé 17, 2100 Kbh Ø - Employment vs. Turnover based measure >In conclusion, there seems to be a rationale in using both measures - despite the flaws of the turnover measure… R2R2 All firms0,01 All firms with 10+ employees0,25 High growth - turnover0,24 High growth - employment0,52 >Especially, when looking at how employment growth is correlated with turnover growth… Correlation between employment and turnover growth
Copyright 2006 © FORA, Langelinie Allé 17, 2100 Kbh Ø - >The Danish Entrepreneurship Index; Note: Different definition of gazelles and preliminary results The value of international comparable data…
Copyright 2006 © FORA, Langelinie Allé 17, 2100 Kbh Ø - The value of international comparable data… (1) Now it is possible to say exactly how far behind Denmark is; High Growth Firms (employment base), 2003 DenmarkUSA Number of high growth firms High growth rate3,34,4 If high growth rate = 4,4952 Extra high growth firms231
Copyright 2006 © FORA, Langelinie Allé 17, 2100 Kbh Ø - (2) It is possible to say whether it is possible to catch up… (3) Concrete policy measures; >How many more High Growth Firms do we need; >In different sectors in Denmark >In different regions of Denmark >Target for the Regional Growth Houses The value of international comparable data…