Aga, GemechuFrancis, David C.Rodriguez Meza, Jorge2015-12-182015-12-182015-11https://hdl.handle.net/10986/23455The subject of which firms are the key employers—and which of these create or destroy jobs at a faster rate—is eminently important for academics and policy makers. The relative importance of small versus large firms and old versus young firms has in particular been extensively debated and studied. Nevertheless, the results often hinge on the questions that are asked. Moreover, the categorical definitions used to define firm size and age, and the nature and coverage of the data used have important effects. This paper lays out the relevant definitions and metrics that are central to the debate, reviewing the main findings to date on the subject (with particular emphasis on results in developing economies). The paper adds updated results for 117 developing economies using the World Bank’s Enterprise Survey Data, finding that (i) small and medium enterprises and older establishments are the dominant employers in the nonagricultural private sector labor force in developing economies, and (ii) net job creation is negatively correlated with establishment age and, although the effect of size is also negative, its significance is sensitive to the definition and methods used.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOJOBSEMPLOYMENTJOB CREATION RATEMOTIVATIONECONOMIC GROWTHACCOUNTINGNET JOB CREATIONPRODUCTIONEMPLOYMENT SHAREFIRM SURVEYINCOMESERVICE SECTORFIRM DYNAMICSMEDIUM ENTERPRISESTOTAL LABOR FORCEINFORMATIONCROSS- SECTIONAL DATALABOR FORCESURVIVAL RATEJOB GENERATIONMANUFACTURERSJOBAGE CATEGORIESEFFECTSEMPLOYMENT POTENTIALLABOR STATISTICSMERGERSFIRM SIZETRAINING PROGRAMSEMPLOYMENT SIZEDRIVERSSMALL BUSINESSEMPLOYMENT LEVELFIRM EXITTRAININGEMPLOYMENT LEVELSDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSMANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTSFIRM LEVELWORKERPREVIOUS STUDIESFARM EMPLOYMENTLABOR PRODUCTIVITYNON-FARM EMPLOYMENTPRODUCTIVITYJOB LOSSJOB CHURNINGMARKETSFIRMORGANIZATIONSBUSINESS CYCLEDOMINANT EMPLOYERSLABORENTERPRISESTOTAL EMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT CREATIONPREVIOUS RESULTSEFFICIENCYSIZE OF FIRMSSMALL ENTERPRISESHOPFIRM ENTRYAVERAGE EMPLOYMENT SIZESMALL FIRMFIRMSWORKERSJOB DESTRUCTION RATESPOLICIESOWNERSHIP STRUCTURESMALL ENTERPRISESTURNOVERVALUEPLANT SIZENET EMPLOYMENTSTATE-OWNED ENTERPRISESJOB CREATION RATESAGE GROUPSCO-OPERATIVESPRIVATE FIRMSENTERPRISEPRODUCTIVE FIRMSEMPLOYMENT GROWTHJOB CREATIONPRIVATE SECTORDOWNWARD BIASMARKETJOB FLOWSECONOMIC THEORYEMPLOYERSECONOMICSEXPANSIONJOB DESTRUCTIONTHEORYFIRM” LEVELSECURITYRISKJOB DESTRUCTION RATECONTRACTINGBUSINESS ENVIRONMENTEMPLOYEEINNOVATIONEMPLOYMENT DYNAMICSLENDINGLABOUR REGULATIONSMALL FIRMSSUPPLIERSFIRM GROWTHENTREPRENEURSHIPLABOUREMPLOYMENT GROWTH RATESMALL BUSINESSESSMEEMPLOYEESWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-7493