90th percentile growth rate distribution It's been a while since I dealt with statistics, I guess I need to brush upon my knowledge about it but as I was reading an article for my class I had a hard time understanding the author's main point intuitively. Below is an excerpt from the article's abstract. The part where I had problem with is the meaning of a firm at the 90th percentile of growth rate distribution. Does this mean a firm whose growth rate was is higher than 90 percent of all firms, or a firm that is in the top 10 percentile in terms of growth rate?
"In 1999, a firm at the 90th percentile of the employment growth rate distribution grew about 31 percent faster than the median firm. Moreover, the 90-50 differential was 16 percent larger than the 50-10 differential reflecting the positive skewness of the employment growth rate distribution. We show that the shape of the firm employment growth distribution changes substantially in the post-2000 period. By 2007, the 90-50 differential was only 4 percent larger than the 50-10 ,and it continued to exhibit a trend decline through 2011. The overall decline reflects a sharp drop in the 90th percentile of the growth rate distribution accounted for by the declining share of young firms and the declining propensity for young firms to be high-growth firms."

Being at the 90th percentile means that you are higher than 90%, and lower than 10% of the population. This describes a point in the distribution.
Being in the top 10 percentile would mean that you are at the 90th percentile or higher. This describes a range in the distribution.
