Kauffman Study Indicates High Growth Firms Account for Greatest Share of Jobs Creation

In a recent study, High Growth Firms and the Future of the American Economy, The Kauffman Foundation reports that in any given year, the top-performing one percent of firms generate roughly 40 percent of all new jobs – and of these “gazelle” firms (those ages three to five years)  account for 10 percent of these new jobs. As a whole, the average firm in the US economy adds two or three new jobs each year.  In comparison, the top one percent contributes 88 jobs per year and most of these gazelles end up with between 20 and 249 employees. 

“While some new companies will undoubtedly fail,” says Robert Litan, vice president of Research and Policy at Kauffman, “high growth firms must be started somehow, and the more quickly they are launched and in larger numbers the faster both output and employment will grow.”

For more on the story, read the report from the Kauffman Foundation