Firm growth and performance over time

How do aspects like firm efficiency and access to export markets affect whether or not firms succeed? How do these factors affect firm size and firm structure? Do large firms start small and grow or are they large when they form and, if so, what explain this pattern? What are the conditions under which firms interact with each other and how does this behaviour change with firm size and age? The way these factors underlie patterns of firm growth are central to understanding how future policies could influence the evolution of firm structure. We are also looking at the dominance of small scale enterprises, and asking How does the size of enterprises change and why? And how does this impact on poverty outcomes? Understanding how enterprises scale up their activity and grow bigger is a key part of understanding the mechanisms of how poor people can gain access to higher income opportunities. Ghana is an important context for studying these issues as there has recently been a substantial increase in the proportion of small firms in the manufacturing sector, and there is excellent data available over a sustained time period.