With these criteria a sample of six hundred and thirty two firms was obtained
and the survey was carried out. A valid rate of response of 12.5% was achieved
(of which five were eliminated because of errors in the replies, leaving a total of
seventy four valid replies). A deeper study was made of the firms which had
replied, following criteria of the European Union based on number of employees:
From 10 to 49 employees: small firms
From 50 to 249 employees: medium-sized firms
In the sample of firms replying to the questionnaire 96% were medium-sized
and 4% small. In graph 1 the values of the sample are revealed with regard to
number of employees, income and total assets.