Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
FrancoAngeli Journals

Articles

No. 1 (2025)

Empowering Entrepreneurship through High-growth Firms: Insights from a Decade-long Bibliometric Analysis

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/cgrds1-2025oa19169
Submitted
gennaio 14, 2025
Published
2025-05-05

Abstract

In Italy, the debate on industrial development and economic growth incentives highlights several key themes. Family capitalism celebrated for its resilience, is simultaneously critiqued for curbing innovation and growth potential (Colli et al., 2003; González et al., 2012; Yanagisako, 2020); Medium-Sized Enterprises stand out for their competitiveness, yet their representation ‒ only 0.5% of firms ‒ limits their macroeconomic impact (OECD, 2012). Meanwhile, innovation, a cornerstone of sustainable growth, remains stifled by insufficient entrepreneurial support and inadequate public incentives. Finally, capital shortages perpetuate a systemic barrier to industrial expansion, further constraining the nation’s economic trajectory. Within this environment, High-Growth Firms (HGFs), or "Gazelles," exhibit exceptional competitiveness despite comprising just 0.2% of manufacturing and 0.4% of service firms in Italy. Defined as firms with over 10 employees and annual employment growth exceeding 20% for three consecutive years, HGFs have been extensively studied (Birch, 1981; Henrekson and Johansson, 2010) yet key growth drivers and the role of innovation ecosystems remain underexplored. To address this, a bibliometric analysis of 2012-2021 publications identified 283 highly cited articles, segmented into pre- and post-Industry 4.0/Horizon 2020 periods. Findings highlight three drivers of HGF competitiveness: technology investment for productivity, knowledge networks via open innovation, reskilling initiatives for human capital. Industry 4.0 technologies have expanded expertise access, reduced market entry barriers, and emphasized circular economy practices, fostering ambidextrous growth. To sustain HGFs, industrial policies must adapt and expand to meet innovation demands, leveraging these insights to replicate success across evolving economic landscapes.

References

  1. Acs Z.J., Autio E., Szerb L. (2014). National Systems of Entrepreneurship: Measurement issues and policy implications, Research Policy, 43(3): 476-494. DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2013.08.016.
  2. Adner R., Kapoor R. (2010). Value Creation in Innovation Ecosystems: How the Structure of Technological Interdependence Affects Firm Performance in New Technology Generations, Strategic Management Journal, 31(3): 306-333. DOI: 10.1002/smj.821.
  3. Aria M., Cuccurullo C. (2017). Bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis, Journal of Informetrics, 11(4): 959-975. DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2017.08.007.
  4. Barney J.B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1): 99-120. DOI: 10.1177/014920639101700108.
  5. Birch D.L. (1981). Who creates jobs?. The Public Interest, 65: 3-14.
  6. Caputo A., Pizzi S., Pellegrini M.M., Dabić M. (2021). Digitalization and business models: Where are we going? A science map of the field, Journal of Business Research, 123: 489-501. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.09.053.
  7. Cariola A., Passarelli M. (2020). “Industria 4.0. Tra suggestioni emergenti e soluzioni effettive”, in Barile S., Simone C. (Eds), Lo sviluppo dell’innovazione nella prospettiva Industry 4.0: il metodo del Design Thinking, Nuova Cultura.
  8. Chesbrough H.W. (2003). Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology, Harvard Business School Press.
  9. Cohen W.M., Levinthal D.A. (1990). Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation, Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1): 128-152. DOI: 10.2307/2393553.
  10. Colli A., Pérez P.F., Rose M.B. (2003). National determinants of family firm development? Family firms in Britain, Spain, and Italy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Enterprise & Society, 4(1): 28-64.
  11. Dalenogare L.S., Benitez G.B., Ayala N.F., Frank A.G. (2018). The expected contribution of Industry 4.0 technologies for industrial performance, International Journal of Production Economics, 204: 383-394. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2018.08.019.
  12. Denyer D., Tranfield D. (2009). “Producing a systematic review”, in Buchanan D.A., Bryman A. (Eds). The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Research Methods, Sage Publications Ltd, pp. 671-689.
  13. Di Maggio P.J., Powell W.W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields”, American Sociological Review, 48: 147-160. DOI: 10.2307/2095101.
  14. Ferreira C.M., Serpa S. (2018). Society 5.0 and social development, Management and Organizational Studies. 5(4): 26-31. DOI: 10.20944/preprints201811.0108.v1.
  15. De Giovanni P., Cariola A. (2021). Process innovation through industry 4.0 technologies, lean practices and green supply chains, Research in Transportation Economics, 90, 100869. DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2020.100869.
  16. González M., Guzmán A., Pombo C., Trujillo M.A. (2012), Family firms and financial performance: The cost of growing, Emerging Markets Review, 13(4): 626-649.
  17. Griliches Z. (1979). Issues in assessing the contribution of research and development to productivity growth, The Bell Journal of Economics, 10(1): 92-116. DOI: 10.2307/3003321.
  18. Henrekson M., Johansson D. (2010), Gazelles as job creators: A survey and interpretation of the evidence, Small Business Economics, 35(2): 227-244.
  19. Horbach J. (2008). Determinants of environmental innovation ‒ new evidence from German panel data sources, Research Policy, 37(1): 163-173. DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2007.08.006.
  20. Isenberg D.J. (2010). How to Start an Entrepreneurial Revolution, Harvard Business Review, 88(6): 40-50.
  21. Kessler M.M. (1963). Bibliographic coupling between scientific papers, American Documentation, 14(1): 10-25. DOI: 10.1002/asi.5090140103.
  22. Liao Y., Deschamps F., Loures E.D.F.R., Ramos L.F.P. (2017). Past, present and future of Industry 4.0. A systematic literature review and research agenda proposal, International Journal of Production Research, 55(12): 3609-3629. DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2017.1308576.
  23. March J.G. (1991). Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning, Organization Science, 2(1): 71-87. DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2.1.71.
  24. Martínez-Fierro S., Biedma-Ferrer J.M., Ruiz-Navarro J. (2019). Impact of highgrowth start-ups on entrepreneurial environment based on the level of national economic development, Business Strategy and the Environment, 29(3): 1007-1020. DOI: 10.1002/bse.2413.
  25. Meindl B., Ayala N.F., Mendonça J., Frank A.G. (2021). The four smarts of Industry 4.0: Evolution of ten years of research and future perspectives, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 168, 120784. DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120784.
  26. Moore J.F. (1993). Predators and Prey: A New Ecology of Competition, Harvard Business Review, 71(3).
  27. OECD (2012). Gazelle rate, Entrepreneurship at a Glance 2012, OECD Publishing, Paris.
  28. Passarelli M., Cariola A., De Giovanni P. (2019). The supply chain in the context of Industry 4.0: a qualitative analysis, SIMA Proceeding.
  29. Porter M.E. (1995). Competitive advantage of nations: Creating and sustaining superior performance, Free Press.
  30. Powell W.W., Koput K.W., Smith-Doerr L. (1996). Inter-organizational collaboration and the locus of innovation: Networks of learning in biotechnology, Administrative Science Quarterly, 41(1): 116-145. DOI: 10.2307/2393988.
  31. Rocha R.G., Ferreira J.J. (2021). Gazelles (high-growth) companies: A bibliometric science map of the field, Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 13: 2911-2934. DOI: 10.1007/s13132-021-00828-4.
  32. Schmookler J. (1966). Invention and Economic Growth, Harvard University Press.
  33. Schumpeter J.A. (1934). The Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry into Profits, Capital, Credit, Interest, and the Business Cycle, Harvard University Press.
  34. Schwab K. (2016). The Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum.
  35. Teece D.J., Pisano G., Shuen A. (1997). Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management, Strategic Management Journal, 18(7): 509-533. DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199708)18:7<509::AID-SMJ882>3.0.CO;2-Z.
  36. Thorpe R., Holt R., Macpherson A. (2005). Using knowledge within small and medium‐sized firms: A systematic review of the evidence, International Journal of Management Reviews, 7(4): 257-281. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2005.00116.x.
  37. Tranfield D., Denyer D., Smart P. (2003). Towards a methodology for developing evidence‐informed management knowledge by means of systematic review, British Journal of Management, 14(3): 207-222. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8551.00375.
  38. Wright M., Hmieleski K.M., Siegel D.S. (2007). The role of human capital in technological entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 31(6): 791-806. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6520.2007.00202.x.
  39. Yanagisako S. (2020). Producing culture and capital: Family firms in Italy, Princeton University Press.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...