this is the same discussion as 650b or 700c. The bigger the total outer diameter is the less susceptible to road bumps it is. At equal weight, the small wheel will accelerate faster, on hill climb, a fast rolling tyre on a small wheel will be faster and if that tyre is a larger volume, you can put less air, get better deformation and therefore smoother ride.
Having said that, a equal weight, on flat, the larger wheel may be faster than the smaller one as it will store more potential energy and will require less input to keep going. The perceived required effort to and small climb from rolling start will be less on bigger wheel too. From a stationary start, smaller will win.
All in all, it is about momentum conservation, the system that requires the less energy to increase/keep the speed is the winner of the given situation.
for example, my 20" minivelo has the same gearing as my gravel bike and tyres with similar rolling resistance yet, I ride much faster on the gravel than the minivelo.
Tyre wide, I tested panaracer gravel king slick 35mm 700c vs Continental speed king 50mm 650b; despite being 15mm wider on 650b and a over diameter and little smaller, the speed king is much much faster and has a lower RR @ 20-22psi than the gravel king @ 35psi. The result is faster and more comfortable...
Note that the german and dutch pedal car racing organiser have done back to back test and the best tyre was conti contact Urban; it was also better that the conti contact speed
https://wimschermer.blogspot.com/202...ental.html?m=1