Small Business in German Manufacturing

In recent years, one observes a renaissance of small business research efforts. The stimuli came from different directions. One strand of more policy oriented research concentrated on the impact of small businesses on the creation of new employment opportunities.1 Another host of studies paid attention to the relationship of innovation productivity of small versus large business.2 And industrial economics research examined the role of small businesses as actual and potential challengers of larger competitors in a given market.3 Whatever motive guided this research, it was emphasized that the cumulated knowledge about large business behavior is by far greater than about their small business counterparts.