Financing growth, and Policy measures

High growth enterprises (HGEs) make a disproportionately high contribution to job creation and economic growth. Through their frequently innovative, technology-based character, they also can have a significant impact on industrial renewal, sectoral productivity and regional competitiveness. This report – which follows on from a previous one published just before the outbreak of the COVID- 19 pandemic (Flachenecker et al., 2020) – examines the EU’s economies through the lens of HGEs and those enterprises benefiting from venture capital investments which have the characteristics or aspiration to achieve very high rates of growth. Rather than merely updating the analyses presented last year, this report deepens some specific analyses, for instance regarding eco-innovation, digitalization and the role of HGEs in previous recessions and recoveries. It also updates and improves the indicator framework used to characterise country-specific framework conditions for HGEs and brings into the picture a range of different data sources which permit commentary and insights of relevance to the current crises context. The report also provides in an annex a series of factsheets consisting of snapshot graphs and figures – one for each of the EU27 member states - based on the analyses which are developed collectively for the EU in the main body of the report.