Intangible assets and determinants of firm growth in China

This paper reports on field work within Chinese small firms, aimed at acquiring data to measure the impact of intangible assets on firm growth. We extend a size - and age - based model to define growth as a function of size, age, entrepreneurship and intangible assets. We use statistical analysis to create measures of entrepreneurship and intangible assets from these data. Intangibles are classified into six categories: human capital; enterprise culture, intellectual property; technology; reputation; and network. Finally, we estimate models of small firm employment growth using our new measures. For our sample, we find that entrepreneurial attributes have little significant impact on small firm growth; whereas intangible asset attributes have a positive and significant impact on growth, with networking and technological knowledge being of prime importance.