Alex Coad

This open access book goes into the details of the characteristics of scale-ups, touching upon various theoretical perspectives (stages of growth models, the role of intangible capital, the tradeoffs between fixed costs and marginal costs) relating to firm growth, to provide a clear definition of this emerging concept. Given the disproportionately large economic contribution of a small number of fast-growing firms, there has been growing interest in a category of dynamic ventures called "scale-ups". The term was popularized by Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists before receiving attention from academics and public policy makers. However, there remains considerable confusion regarding what a scale-up actually is. This is an open access book.

The growth of firms is a central topic in entrepreneurship research and much research has been published on the topic. While there are a number of surveys on the topic of firm growth, these surveys generally focus on the determinants of firm growth where firm growth is generally seen as ‘more of the same’ in the context of a smoothly-expanding continuous variable that represents firm size. Lumps, Bumps and Jumps in the Firm Growth Process seeks to contribute to the literature by taking a different angle to the phenomenon of firm growth – emphasizing the lumpy nature of growth, and focusing specifically on the discontinuities in the growth process. It argues that the most interesting growth events occur during these discontinuous lumps and spikes in the growth process. Lumps, Bumps and Jumps in the Firm Growth Process is multidisciplinary and focuses on various aspects of the growth process. Section 2 focuses on theoretical aspects of lumpy growth. Section 3 focuses on empirical research into the lumpiness of firm growth. Section 4 discusses how empirical research into the characteristics and performance of High-Growth Firms (HGFs) as well as searching for regularities in growth paths, growth autocorrelation patterns, growth spells, and growth spikes. Section 5 discusses some implications of this literature review for empirical analysis and Section 6 concludes.

Research into firm growth has been accumulating at a terrific pace, and Alex Coad's survey of this multifaceted field provides a detailed, comprehensive overview of the latest developments. Much progress has been made in empirical research into firm growth in recent decades due to factors such as the availability of detailed longitudinal datasets, more powerful computers and new econometric techniques. This book provides an up-to-date catalogue of empirical work, as well as a coherent theoretical structure within which these new results can be interpreted and understood. It brings together a large body of recent research on firm growth from a multidisciplinary perspective, providing an up-to-date synthesis of stylized facts and empirical regularities. Numerous empirical findings and theories of firm growth are also surveyed and compared in order to evaluate their validity. Drawing on a vast and diverse body of research, this book will prove invaluable to students, academics, policy makers and practitioners with a need to keep abreast of studies in industrial organization, firm growth and management.