Abstract
Since David Birch's work on the role of small business in job creation, a considerable amount of scholarly and practical attention has focused on small businesses. State and local governments have formulated policies to foster small business birth and growth, while scholars have tried to measure more accurately the contributions of small business to economic development. In furthering the latter, this article assesses the quality of jobs in small, medium and large establishments. In general, small businesses provide jobs with lower wages, benefits and stability, but with more creativity, interesting work, autonomy, and overall job satisfaction. The implications of this for economic development are discussed in the concluding section.
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