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Spinoffs and the market for ideas

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Author Info
Satyajit Chatterjee
Esteban Rossi-Hansberg

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Abstract

We present a theory of spinoffs in which the key ingredient is the originator’s private information concerning the quality of his new idea. Because quality is privately observed, by the standard adverse-selection logic, the market can at best offer a price that reflects the average quality of ideas sold. This gives the holders of above-average-quality ideas the incentive to spin off. We show that only workers with very good ideas decide to spin off, while workers with mediocre ideas sell them. Entrepreneurs of existing firms pay a price for the ideas sold in the market that implies zero expected profits for them. Hence, firms’ project selection is independent of firm size, which, under some additional assumptions, leads to scale-independent growth. The entry and growth process of firms leads to invariant firm-size distributions that resemble the ones for the U.S. economy and most of its individual industries.

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Paper provided by Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia in its series Working Papers with number 08-26.

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Date of creation: 2008
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fedpwp:08-26

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Prusa, Thomas J & Schmitz, James A, Jr, 1994. "Can Companies Maintain Their Initial Innovation Thrust? A Study of the PC Software Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(3), pages 523-40, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Esteban Rossi-Hansberg & Mark L. J. Wright, 2007. "Establishment Size Dynamics in the Aggregate Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(5), pages 1639-1666, December. [Downloadable!]
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  3. S. Klepper & S. Sleeper, 2002. "Entry by Spinoffs," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2002-07, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group.
  4. Tor Jakob Klette & Samuel Kortum, 2004. "Innovating Firms and Aggregate Innovation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(5), pages 986-1018, October.
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  5. April Mitchell Franco & Darren Filson, 2000. "Knowledge diffusion through employee mobility," Staff Report 272, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Robert E. Hall & Susan E. Woodward, 2007. "The Incentives to Start New Companies: Evidence from Venture Capital," NBER Working Papers 13056, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Anton, James J & Yao, Dennis A, 1994. "Expropriation and Inventions: Appropriable Rents in the Absence of Property Rights," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(1), pages 190-209, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Erzo G. J. Luttmer, 2007. "Selection, Growth, and the Size Distribution of Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 122(3), pages 1103-1144, 08. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Ericson, Richard & Pakes, Ariel, 1995. "Markov-Perfect Industry Dynamics: A Framework for Empirical Work," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 62(1), pages 53-82, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Jan Eeckhout, 2004. "Gibrat's Law for (All) Cities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1429-1451, December. [Downloadable!]
  11. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-70, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. John Sutton, 1997. "Gibrat's Legacy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 40-59, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Xavier Gabaix, 2005. "The Granular Origins of Aggregate Fluctuations," 2005 Meeting Papers 470, Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Anton, James J & Yao, Dennis A, 1995. "Start-ups, Spin-offs, and Internal Projects," Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 362-78, October.
  15. Anton, James J & Yao, Dennis A, 2002. "The Sale of Ideas: Strategic Disclosure, Property Rights, and Contracting," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 69(3), pages 513-31, July.
  16. Xavier Gabaix, 1999. "Zipf'S Law For Cities: An Explanation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(3), pages 739-767, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Hopenhayn, Hugo A, 1992. "Entry, Exit, and Firm Dynamics in Long Run Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(5), pages 1127-50, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Erzo G.J. Luttmer, 2007. "New goods and the size distribution of firms," Working Papers 649, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
  2. Erzo G.J. Luttmer, 2007. "On the Mechanics of Firm Growth," Working Papers 2007-4, University of Minnesota, Department of Economics, revised 10 2007. [Downloadable!]
  3. Boyan Jovanovic, 2007. "Investment Options and the Business Cycle," NBER Working Papers 13307, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Erzo G.J. Luttmer, 2008. "On the mechanics of firm growth," Working Papers 657, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
  5. Robert E. Lucas, Jr., 2008. "Ideas and Growth," NBER Working Papers 14133, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
    • Robert E. Lucas, 2009. "Ideas and Growth," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 76(301), pages 1-19, 02. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Luis Cabral & Zhu Wang, 2008. "Spin-offs: theory and evidence," Research Working Paper RWP 08-15, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. [Downloadable!]
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