Enterprises in Europe

European Commission Eurostat

Description

Fourth Report
Enterprise

Informations

• Publié par: EUROPEAN-COMMISSION-EUROSTAT
• Nombre de lectures: 13
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 33 Mo

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The production of this document was conceived by the
SME project team, led by Marie-Paule Benassi.
The data processing, statistical analysis, writing of
chapters and desktop publishing were carried out by:
Giovanni Albertone
Marie-Agnès Bragard
Dr Ursula Schmidt
with proof-reading services from Sally Hobbs.
Thanks also for help and support at the preliminary
stage from Eva Perea, Andrea Corone and all those who
commented or brought additional information.
Maps
GISCO, Eurostat
Translation n Service of the European Commission,
Luxembourg
Eurostat and DG XXIII gratefully acknowledge the contri­
butions of the following institutes which supplied the sta­
tistics on the respective countries:
Belgium Institut National de Statistique (NIS-INS)
National Social Security Office
(RVSZ-ONSS)
Denmark Danmarks Statistik (DS)
Germany Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IFM)
Bundesanstalt für Arbeit (BA)
Greece National Statistical Service of Greece
(NSSG)
Spain Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE)
France Institut National de la Statistique et
des Budes Economiques (INSEE)
Ireland Central Statistics Office (CSO)
Italy Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTÄT)
Luxembourg Service Central de la Statistique
et des Etudes Economiques (STATEC)
Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS)
Austria Austrian Central Statistical Office (ÖSTAT)
Portugal Instituto Nacional de Estatistica (INE)
Finland Statistics Finland
Sweden Statistics Sweden
United
Kingdom Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
Iceland The Statistical Bureau of Iceland
Norway Statistics Norway
USA Small Business Administration
Canada Statistics Canada
OFFICE FOR OFFICIAL PUBUCATIONS
OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
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*** L - 2985 Luxembourg ENTERPRISES IN EUROPE, FOURTH REPORT:
FOREWORD
F n December 1994, the European Commission's White Paper on Growth, Competi­
tiveness and Employment underlined the important contribution of small and medium- O
/ sized enterprises (SMEs) to the recovery of the European economy. These enterprises, rep­
R resenting a large majority of all enterprises (99.8%) employ two thirds of the private sector
workforce and generate virtually the same proportion of total turnover. In order to release
E
SMEs' potential for growth, the Cannes European Council in June 1995 asked that the
European Commission prepare a report on the role that SMEs could play in boosting employ­ W
ment, growth and competitiveness in the European Union. O
This report was presented to the Madrid European Council, which invited the Commission R
to put its proposals into practical effect as soon as possible. The European Commission sub­
D
sequently proposed its Third Multiannual Programme on Enterprises and SMEs, called
'Maximizing European SMEs' Full Potential for Employment, Growth and Competi­
tiveness',1 for the period 1997-2000.
This Programme includes a number of priority actions, including the simplification of admin­
istrative procedures, financial assistance for those SMEs which create employment, encourag­
ing the internationalization of SMEs, promoting training and improving SMEs' access to
information on innovation. It also includes, as before, measures aimed at improving the avail­
ability of information about enterprises, particularly a statistical review about SMEs, which
is a collaborative project between Directorate-General ΧΧ1Π of the European Commission,
responsible for enterprise policy, trade, tourism and cooperatives, and Eurostat, the Statistical
Office of the European Communities.
This statistical review only uses existing sources of information, particularly statistical and
administrative registers. It thus achieves two objectives which are not always easy to recon­
cile: the collection of data on enterprises and the need to limit the burden on enterprises who
provide this statistical information. This project has led to the creation of the 'European
Statistical System on SMEs', a database containing information on enterprises classified
according to size, and to the publication of a bi-annual document, of which this is the Fourth
Edition. W
t
Heinrich von Moltke Yves Franchet
Director-General Director-General
DG XXIII Eurostat
1 'Maximizing European SMEs' Full Potential for Employment, Growth and Competitiveness',
Proposal for a Council Decision, COM(96) 98 final of 20.3.1996.
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«xxi" * ENTERPRISES IN EUROPE, FOURTH REPORT:
CONTENTS
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A
Β METHODOLOGY
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PART 7 - - OVERVIEW
EU ENTERPRISES — KEY FACTS
Nearly 16 million enterprises in EUR 15 O
SME dominance in EUR 15 economy
F Trade, hotels, restaurants and construction: the domain of SMEs
Sectors dominated by SMEs show very diverse size structures
Differing enterprise cultures in Europe
Sectoral peculiarities more important than country differences C
O EU ENTERPRISES — THE FOUR SIZE CLASSES
The very small enterprises: 0 to 9 employees
Ν
The small: 10 to 49 employees
The medium-sized enterprises: 50 to 249 employees Τ
The large enterprises: 250 or more employees
E
ENTERPRISES IN THE USA AND JAPAN
Ν
Participation rates are higher in the USA and Japan
USA: twice as many one-man businesses as in the Union Τ
USA: five to six million enterprises with a salaried staff
S Japan: 1.5 million groups and a great many establishments
USA, Japan: very small enterprises have a much weaker weight
Very different 'political' definitions
PART 2 — THEMATIC ANALYSES
• ENTERPRISE DEMOGRAPHY —
MANY BIRTHS, FEW SURVIVALS
INNOVATION IN SMEs
One to two thirds of EU SMEs in manufacturing industry are innovative
Developing new national markets: more important for SMEs
than for large enterprises
R&D activities as a pointer to innovation
LABOUR COSTS AND PRODUCTIVITY OF SMEs
Average labour costs per employee: a matter of sector and enterprise size
The trade sectors show a very different pattern from manufacturing or construction
Labour productivity: highest for large manufacturers
Construction: no specific size pattern in productivity
mi
eurostat ENTERPRISES IN EUROPE, FOURTH REPORT:
CONTENTS
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• 75 LABOUR COSTS AND PRODUCTIVITY OF SMEs (continued)
Trade and HoReCa: medium­sized enterprises are most productive Λ
Manufacturing: same return on labour in very small and in large firms
ß Construction: labour input is most efficient in very small construction firms
Trade and HoReCa: country divergences outweigh sectoral peculiarities L
• SMEs AND SUBCONTRACTING 83 E
Subcontracting: a multifaceted practice
Pilot surveys in 10 of the European Union countries
Motor vehicle parts and accessories: medium­sized enterprises in 'pole position' O
Textiles/clothing: European manufacturers rather as main contractors
F
• SMEs IN THE RECESSION IN EUROPE — 1992 93
Economic stagnation in the early 1990s
Extractive, energy and manufacturing industries: large employment losses C
Construction: large enterprises hit harder by recession than SMEs
Services: still on a dynamic trend in 1992 O
Ν • REGIONAL ANALYSES 101
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PART 3 -­ SECTORAL ANALYSES 113
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• The profiles of 27 sectors of the economy Τ
complemented by country and size class details
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PART 4 -­ COUNTRY ANALYSES 145
• Key figures on the enterprise population
in countries of the European Economic Area
EPILOGUE — Photis NANOPOULOS, Director 165
ANNEXES 167
• NACE 70
• ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS
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* XXIII * ENTERPRISES IN EUROPE, FOURTH REPORT:
INTRODUCTION
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* xxiiiENTERPRISES IN EUROPE, FOURTH REPORT:
INTRODUCTION
ome years ago, it was not possible to give even a rough figure for the number of active enter­
prises in the European Union. Today, we know that there are around 16 million of them,
employing more than 100 million people and that 99.8% of these enterprises are SMEs g less than 250 people. S
These figures might at first seem basic, but they were in fact very difficult to obtain. For statisticians,
tracking the population of enterprises is today still much more difficult than following the human pop­
ulation. In fact, it might be compared to collecting population statistics in times when birth rates were
very high, deaths in the first years of life very frequent and population registers did not exist.
The population of European enterprises is very diverse and volatile because it is made up mainly of very