A Historical Perspective on Small Firm Development

Reuben Vinnell and R. T. Hamilton

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 1999, vol. 23, issue 4, 5-18

Abstract: This paper presents a case study of the process of small firm growth, stability, and decline using historical method. The objective is to develop understanding of why growth is pursued when it is and hence advance understanding of the lack of persistence in growth over extended periods. Most empirical studies of small firm development have used cross-sectional designs and quantitative methods (usually multiple regression) to explain single episodes of growth measured over short intervals of time. These have generally yielded fairly weak explanations and are unable to say anything at all about why growth was embarked upon and what happens within the firm before, during, and after the growth phase. This study, in contrast, relates phases of growth, stability, and decline to a set of forces, external and internal, acting on and within the firm over time. Small firm development is revealed to be complex, the result of an idiosyncratic and unstable process involving the interplay of the local environment and features internal to the firm.

Date: 1999
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:entthe:v:23:y:1999:i:4:p:5-18

DOI: 10.1177/104225879902300401

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