On The Autocorrelation Of Growth Rates: Evidence For Micro, Small And Large Firms From The Austrian Service Industries, 1975-2004

This paper studies the serial autocorrelation of annual growth rates in employment for selected Austrian service industries over a 30-year period using quantile regression techniques. The autocorrelation of growth rates provides important information on firms growth processes. The authors find that the growth patterns of micro firms are strikingly different from the growth patterns of small, medium-sized and larger firms. The persistence in employment growth - are new jobs likely to be discontinued one year later or is the growth process continuing - is of special interest, as in recent years there is a growing interest in the job-creating potential of small firms.