Il ruolo della dimensione e dell'età nella crescita occupazionale delle PMI Italiane

We empirically investigate gross job flows and the growth patterns of limited liability companies in Italy over the period 1996-2004, using original data on work forces and other characteristics of the firm. The analysis reveals that the phenomenon of regression to the mean only partially explains the propensity of small firms to grow faster than large organizations. The analysis of gross job flow points out that the magnitude of job creation and job destruction shrunk in the aftermath of the economic downturn in 2001 and the labour market became less efficient in allocating job opportunities. The econometric analysis shows that size negatively affects firms’ net employment growth, even though the negative correlation vanishes among companies with more than 24 employees. Firms that are at most 14 years old outperform the average firm in the sample, on the contrary, age does not influence the growth of units aged 15 years and more, and it even represents a burden among the oldest firms in the sample.