Date of Award

2018

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies and Public Affairs

Department

Maxine Goodman levin College of Urban Affairs

First Advisor

Hill, Edward

Subject Headings

Regional Studies

Abstract

This three-essay dissertation seeks to resolve some of the unanswered questions that exist about high-growth firms (HGFs). Paper I identifies the antecedents and outcomes of HGFs to better inform economic development policy. In explaining the theoretical and operational constructs of these concepts, a model of the situation of high-growth firms is developed, dubbed the Model of High Growth Firm Antecedents and Outputs. Antecedents to HGFs include an entrepreneurial mindset, firm strategic resources, and firm structural characteristics, while outputs of HGFs include regional innovation outcomes and regional economic outcomes. Paper II investigated the quantitative association between antecedents and outputs of HGFs. This paper used path analysis to test hypotheses within the Regional High-Growth Firm Antecedents and Outcomes Framework, and finds a strong positive association between most antecedents (human capital, startup capital, and business costs) and HGFs, a positive relationship between most antecedents and outcomes (employment and per capita income), and an association between HGFs and employment. Paper III establishes a typology of HGFs using cluster-discriminate analysis. Using a sample of 26,104 firms in the state of Ohio from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, this paper finds that only a small portion of HGFs display high-growth characteristics described in the literature.

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