This research theme focuses on the dynamics of business demography. The central focus is to build understanding of the growth rate distribution of UK businesses and which types of firms are responsible for job creation and economic growth.

Developing and updating data has been a major feature of work in this research theme this year. Key to this has been updating the Business Structures Database and related analysis. Find out more.

Publications

Moving on from the ‘Vital 6%’ (Insights Paper No 3)

High-Growth Firms (HGFs) represent only a small minority -the ‘Vital 6%’ – of the UK business population yet they have a disproportionate impact on job creation and innovation. This paper confirms the headline conclusion for job creation: that is, a small number of job creating firms (mostly small firms) are responsible for a significant amount of net job creation in the UK.

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Localisation of Industrial Activity across England’s LEPs: 2008 & 2012 (Research Paper No 15)

BIS commissioned the Centre to undertake an analysis of industrial clusters in the UK and to use the new Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) as the sub-national spatial frame in England. The analysis is designed as an information source for the LEPS as they prepare their new strategic economic plans.

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Supporting sustained growth among SMEs (White Paper No 7)

Among SMEs high growth is often episodic and not sustained. This paper reviews a number of international support measures designed to give SMEs the capabilities and resources to sustain fast growth.

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Burden or Benefit? Regulation as a dynamic influence on SME performance (Research Paper No 7)

This paper contributes to contemporary debates concerning the impact of regulation on small business performance in the UK.

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Accounting for Job Growth (Research Paper No 2)

It has recently been recognised that conclusions about firm size were confounded by the effect of the age of the firm. This paper explores the role of size, controlling for age, by comparing the cohorts of firms born in 1998 over their first decade of life.

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Firm Dynamics and Job Creation in the UK (White Paper No 6)

A consistent theme in the discussion of attempts to stimulate economic recovery in the UK is a recognition of the need to unlock the growth potential of the private sector. This paper explores the simple question – “what types of firms create the most jobs in the UK economy?”

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