ABSTRACT
In recent years small and medium-sized firms have once again become the focus of political interest. Some of the arguments for this increased interest have been known for a long time. The fact that in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) about 95% of all firms are small and medium-sized was documented seventy years ago (Passow 1915). Equally well-known is the fact that in the FRG these firms employ three-quarters of the total employed workforce and account for nearly two-thirds of total sales (cf. the official publications of the last Census 1961 and 1970 by the Federal Statistical Office).
