MANAGERIAL INPUTS AND THE GROWTH OF RURAL SMALL FIRMS

Growth of rural small firms is influenced by education and work effort of owner or manager, and by degree of technology adoption and plannin g. Results are based on analysis of data from a small business survey in twenty-five rural Georgia counties. Employment growth in a sample o f manufacturing, sales, and service firms is examined. Independent fir ms, sole proprietorships, and firms owned by women are found to have s ignificantly lower-than-average growth rates. The study confirms earli er findings that firm growth is negatively related to firm size and ag e. Implications for small business assistance programs are discussed.