Do productivity and ownership really matter for growth? Firm-level evidence

Using data on Indian state-owned enterprises for 1987-2006, the paper examines the association between productivity, ownership and employment growth. After accounting for various firm level controls, the evidence indicates that firm growth improves primarily through passive learning, whereas higher levels of active learning appear to slow down firm growth, although the magnitude of these effects is economically small. Besides, the analysis suggests that ownership is significantly and non-linearly related to firm growth.