The influence of age on the relationships between SMEs growth and its determinants: empirical evidence using Panel Data

• Autor(a) principal: Gonçalves, Marco Xavier Badalo Mourato
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.6/2903
• topic: Pequenas e médias empresas - Crescimento

Using two sub-samples of Portuguese SMEs: 1) 495 young SMEs; and 2) 1350 old SMEs, through the two-step estimation method, we examine if age is a fundamental characteristic of the relationships established between determinants and SME growth. The multiple empirical evidence allows us to conclude that age is a determinant for the relationships formed between determinants and SME growth: 1) age and size are negatively related to growth in young SMEs, but are not relevant in explaining the growth of old SMEs; 2) cash flow and debt are of greater relative importance for growth in young SMEs than for growth in old SMEs, with R&D expenditure being of greater relative importance for growth in old SMEs than for growth in young SMEs; and 3) growth in young SMEs is found to have a continuous tendency, unlike the case of old SMEs. We also find significant differences between the determinants of survival in young SMEs and old SMEs.