Small Business Enterprise

Written by Professor Gavin Reid, of the Department of Economics, University of St Andrews

‘Professor Reid is almost religious in his drive to persuade researchers to gather primary data and devise new estimation techniques to advance the frontiers of small business economics. To my knowledge this is the finest work of its kind. It fills an important niche in our understanding of small firms and the effort must be judged a success.’

Zoltan Acs, Journal of Economic Literature.

‘In this expansive and persuasive study, Gavin Reid uses the lens of industrial organization analysis to shed considerable light on what the role of small firms is in advanced market economies. An especially attractive feature of his book is that he links a painstakingly detailed and rich data base to a well-considered theoretical framework. The result is a rich array of new and often striking insights into the contribution that small firms make in industrial markets… With the publication of this book and the bold research agenda he proposes, Reid has single-handedly moved the entire field of small business economics forward towards maturity.

David Audretsch, Kyklos

‘Reid carries out some highly professional econometric analysis in attempts at resolving some important issues regarding small firms. Undoubtedly, his testing of the conditions under which owners believe that they will face a kinked demand curve must be regarded as path-breaking in what is really unexplored territory….Reid’s book should undoubtedly be read by anyone with an interest in the small firm sector’.

Graham Hall, Economic Journal

‘Gavin Reid’s new book is one of perhaps only half a dozen books in the past 20 years that attempts with any syccess to advance the subject…Any economist with a shelf of books on small firms has to add this one’.

Graham Bannock, The Business Economist

‘This lucid, thought at times difficult book, will make an important contribution to knowledge. It is a must for any economist or students with an interest in SMEs’

Graham Bannock, Economic Affairs

‘This book must be considered a valuable attempt to test standard industrial economics theory against the small-business evidence. It imparts new information about small-firm survival, growth, profitability and pricing. Moreover, it usefully introduces the (perhaps struggling) economist to specific concepts of market strategy originating from one of the gurus of the business management literature. The applicability of these tools to the small-firm domain is successfully demonstrated’.

Robert Cressy, Economica

This is one of the few books in the UK written by economists on the subject of smaller enterprises. Given that smaller enterprises in Britain (with less than 200 employees) employ 12 million people, providing 58% of non-government employment, the topic deserves to be taken seriously…Reid is anxious to ensure that the analysis has a sound theoretical basis and takes the Coaseian view that firms exist because they economize on costs compared to the market alternative. He sees firm formation as a kind of coalition formation and, in subsequent writings, has been anxious to incorporate the role of the entrepreneur back into economic theory…The second area where the book makes a contribution is in illustrating the opportunities and additional insights available from more econometric analysis…Overall, the value of the book is that it is written by a good economist seeking to apply modern econometric analysis to the small enterprise sector.

David Storey, The Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies.

‘I enjoyed reading the book and found it shed light on many issues dealing with small business enterprise in industrialized economies. The rigorous use of modern economic industrial organization theory and econometric analysis is its most appealing feature’.

Gregoring E. Goering, Southern Economic Journal

‘Reid’s desire to combine case studies with large-scale data sets is one which will be both familiar and accessible to business historians. Business historians should certainly be interested in the structure of the evidence which Reid has collected and the kinds of question which he can proceed to answer. Ultimately, he offers a framework for the analysis of small businesses within which historians have much to contribute.’

Katherine Watson, Business History

‘I enjoyed this work for the enthusiasm of the author for field work. The empirical work done is quite impressive. The book can be recommended to small business economists who are active in this area. For them the book is worthwhile for its research design and the way data are handled.’

Frank Suijker, De Economist

Order book from Routledge Publishers.

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