Young Innovative Companies: the new high-growth firms?

Young Innovative Companies (YIC) gained increasing attention from governments and scholars owing to their expected high innovative performance and growth. Consequently, this study investigates whether YICs, as defined by the European Union (EU), grow more than other firms, both in terms of employment and in terms of sales. Using a database of Flemish firms during the years 2001-2008, this study reveals that these firms do grow significantly more than other firms. In addition, this study shows that YICs can be differentiated from New Technology-Based Firms and small, young firms in terms of growth, pointing to the importance of combining the individual properties characterizing YICs, that is being young (