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Do Liquidity Constraints Matter in Explaining Firm Size and Growth? Some Evidence from the Italian Manufacturing Industry

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Author Info
Giorgio Fagiolo
Alessandra Luzzi

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Abstract

The paper investigates whether liquidity constraints affect firm size and growth dynamics using a large longitudinal sample of Italian manufacturing firms. We run standard panel-data Gibrat regressions, suitably expanded to take into account liquidity constraints (proxied by cash flow). Moreover, we characterize the statistical properties of firms size, growth, age, and cash flow distributions. Pooled data show that: (i) liquidity constraints engender a negative, statistically significant, effect on growth once one controls for size; (ii) smaller and younger firms grow more (and experience more volatile growth patterns) after controlling for liquidity constraints; (iii) the stronger liquidity constraints, the more size negatively affects firm growth. We find that pooled size distributions depart from log-normality and growth rates are well approximated by fat-tailed, tent-shaped (Laplace) densities. We also study the evolution of growth-size distributions over time. Our exercises suggest that the strong negative impact of liquidity constraints on firm growth which was present in the pooled sample becomes ambiguous when one disaggregates across years. Finally, firms who were young and strongly liquidity-constrained at the beginning of the sample period grew persistently more than those who were old and weakly liquidity-constrained.

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Paper provided by Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy in its series LEM Papers Series with number 2004/08.

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Date of creation: 15 Apr 2004
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Handle: RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2004/08

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Keywords: Firm Size; Liquidity Constraints; Firm Growth; Investment; Gibrat Law;

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Cited by:
(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. Silvia Giannangeli & Giorgio Fagiolo & Massimo Molinari, 2008. "Financial Structure and Corporate Growth: Evidence from Italian Panel Data," LEM Papers Series 2008/17, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  2. Mercedes Teruel-Carrizosa & Agustí Segarra-Blasco, 2008. "Immigration and Firm Growth: Evidence from Spanish cities," Working Papers XREAP2008-11, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Nov 2008. [Downloadable!]
  3. Chiara Coluzzi & Annalisa Ferrando & Carmen Martínez-Carrascal, 2009. "Financing obstacles and growth: An analysis for euro area non-financial corporations," Banco de España Working Papers 0836, Banco de España. [Downloadable!]
  4. Marco Corsino & Roberto Gabriele & Enrico Zaninotto, 2008. "Organizational capabilities and industry dynamics: a computational model," DISA Working Papers 0809, Department of Computer and Management Sciences, University of Trento, Italy, revised 18 Nov 2008. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Zélia Serrasqueiro & Paulo Maçãs Nunes, 2008. "Performance and size: empirical evidence from Portuguese SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 195-217, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Chiara Coluzzi & Annalisa Ferrando & Carmen Martinez-Carrascal, 2009. "Financing obstacles and growth - an analysis for euro area non-financial corporations," Working Paper Series 997, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  7. Blandina Oliveira & Adelino Fortunato, 2006. "Firm Growth and Liquidity Constraints: A Dynamic Analysis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 139-156, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Giulio Bottazzi & Marco Grazzi & Angelo Secchi & Federico Tamagni, 2007. "Assessing the Impact of Credit Ratings and Economic Performance on Firm Default," LEM Papers Series 2007/15, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  9. Alex Coad, 2008. "Firm growth and scaling of growth rate variance in multiplant firms," Economics Bulletin, Economics Bulletin, vol. 12(9), pages 1-15. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Luís Cabral, 2007. "Small firms in Portugal: a selective survey of stylized facts, economic analysis, and policy implications," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 65-88, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Alex Coad, 2007. "Neoclassical vs evolutionary theories of financial constraints : critique and prospectus," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne r07008, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne. [Downloadable!]
  12. Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2006. "Entrepreneurship and the Process of Firms’ Entry, Survival and Growth," IZA Discussion Papers 2475, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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