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Firm size and growth opportunities: a survey

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  • A. Arrighetti
  • A. Ninni

Abstract

The qualifying aspect of the ongoing changes in firm growth processes seems to be the increased heterogeneity of size and a trend towards a broader fluctuation in average size. Exogenous factors (market size, demand trends, technological innovations, higher competition) determine a different impact on firms will to increase their own size, while endogenous variables play a greater role than in the past. The outcome is represented by a growth pattern that characterises some firms, but not all of them. Growth appear to be an asymmetric phenomenon, involving selectively but not casually a subgroup of firms. In the present paper it is hypothesized that growth stems from the asymmetric distribution of internalized resources (both material and immaterial), allowing some firms (regardless of the original size) to enter evolutionary paths that others don’t want or simply can’t enter.

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  • A. Arrighetti & A. Ninni, 2009. "Firm size and growth opportunities: a survey," Economics Department Working Papers 2009-EP05, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    • Handle: RePEc:par:dipeco:2009-ep05
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    Cited by:

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    2. Giorgio Barba Navaretti & Davide Castellani & Fabio Pieri, 2014. "Age and firm growth: evidence from three European countries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 823-837, December.
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    5. Caravella, Serenella & Crespi, Francesco & Guarascio, Dario & Tubiana, Matteo, 2020. "Competitive strategies, heterogeneous demand sources and firms’ growth trajectories," GLO Discussion Paper Series 442, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm Growth; Size Distribution; Gibrat’s Law; Industrial Dynamics; Human Capital; Intangible Assets; Industrial Policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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