According to the latest available data (for the year 2016), 25,000 medium-large firms (with more than 50 employees) produce almost half of the value added of the industrial and non-financial service sector, with almost 6 million employees; the other half is produced by 4.3 million small firms, with 6 million employees and 4.8 million self-employed workers.
In France, Germany and Spain, the share of value added produced by large companies is higher and the incidence of self-employed workers, small businesses and their employees is lower (slide 12). 24. Literature has emphasised the possible role of institutional factors in hampering the dimensional growth of firms.