The Number and Size of Firms: Why So Big a Difference?

The number of firms and their size are analysed for the Slovenian manufacturing sector on the basis of the firm-level evidence of the Business Register of Slovenia virtually representing all the firms in activity. A remarkable difference is found between the number of the registered manufacturing firms and the number of firms with employment. The increase in the number of all registered firms is remarkable, but it is less so for the number of firms with employment, suggesting that many more firms were being registered than were in reality economically active. The large majority of newly registered firms during the 1990s were firms without any recorded employment. Whilst the number of firms increased, the number of employees declined, the average manufacturing firm size measured by employees per firm declined. Private firms constitute the vast majority of the firms in activity at end of the 1990s and afterwards.