Do Managers' Characteristics Influence the Employment Growth of Smes‪?‬

Introduction Since the publication of Birch's work in 1979, an impressive number of studies have been carried out on the role of SMEs in job creation. The data and methodology used by Birch (1979) have given rise to criticisms (Armington and Odle, 1982). Another American economist, Bennett Harrison (1997), made the most resounding of these criticisms. Apart from the fact that Birch did apparently not establish a difference between SMEs and subsidiaries of large companies, Harrison stated that Birch did not underline that a tiny proportion of firms, that is fast-growing firms, created most employment. However, Birch did observe this phenomenon in a book published in 1987. Moreover, he invented the term "gazelles," commonly used to refer to high-growth firms (Birch, 1987).