Examines the role of small firms in developed nations' economies.

List of figures; List of tables; List of contributors; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction Zoltan J. Acs and David B. Audretsch; 2. Industrial concentration and small firms in the United Kingdom: the 1980s in historical perspective Alan Hughes; 3. The role of small firms in West Germany Michael Fritsch; 4. Has the role of small firms changed in the United States? Zoltan J. Acs and David B. Audretsch; 5. Recent developments in the firm-size distribution and economics of scale in Dutch manufacturing Roy Thurik; 6. Small firms in Portuguese manufacturing industries José Mata; 7. Small firms and the Italian economy: structural changes and evidence of turbulence B. Invernizzi and Riccardo Revelli; 8. The role of small firms in Czechoslovak manufacturing Gerald A. McDermott and Michal Mejstrik; 9. The evolution of small business in East Germany Hans-Gerd Bannasch; 10. The implications of the Polish economic reform for small business: evidence from Gdansk Simon Johnson and Gary Loveman; 11. The development experience and government policies: lessons for Eastern Europe? Hans-Peter Brunner; 12. Conclusion Zoltan J. Acs and David B. Audretsch; Index.