Small business has captured the imagination of both the popular press and politicians. The tradition that has created sympathy for the small entrepreneur has been strengthened in recent years by images of small firms as dynamic, growing, and flexible and of large firms as struggling, outdated, and intractable in the face of changing competitive environments. There is, it appears, an added fervor for America's support of "the little guy."

Employers Large and Small draws on existing data and new research to create a more complete picture of the roles of large and small...