Are Small Firms Important? Their Role and Impact proposes and supports the claim that small firms make two indispensable contributions to the economy. First, they are an integral part of the renewal process that pervades market economies. New and small firms play a crucial role in experimentation and innovation that leads to technological change, productivity and economic growth. Second, small firms are the essential mechanism by which millions enter the economic and social mainstream of American society. The public policy implications for sustained economic growth and social well-being is the continued high-level creation of new and small firms by all segments of society. It should be the role of government policy to facilitate that process by eliminating entry barriers, lowering transaction costs, and minimizing regulation.

1 The New American Evolution.- 2 Small Firms and Efficiency.- 3 Semiconductor Startups and the Exploration of New Technological Territory.- 4 Entry, Innovation and Firm Growth.- 5 Small Business and Job Creation in the United States: The Role of New and Young Businesses.- 6 Small Business, Entrepreneurship, and Industrial Dynamics.- 7 Women-Owned Businesses: Why Do They Matter?.- 8 Don't Call Me Small: The Contribution of Ethnic Enterprises to the Economic and Social Weil-Being of America.- 9 Evolution, Community, and the Global Economy.- 10 Small Businesses, Innovation, and Public Policy.