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Testing Gibrat's Legacy: A Bayesian Approach to Study the Growth of Firms

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Author Info
Elena Cefis ()
Matteo Ciccarelli
Luigi Orsenigo

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Abstract

Gibrat's law is a referent model of corporate growth dynamics. This paper employs Bayesian panel data methods to test for Gibrat's law and its implications. Using a Pharmaceutical Industry Database (1987-1998), we find evidence against Gibrat's law on average, within or across industries. Estimated steady states differ across firms, and firm sizes and growth rates don't converge within the same industry to a common limiting distribution. There is only weak evidence of mean reversion: initial larger firms do not grow relatively slower than smaller firms. Differences in growth rates and in size steady state are persistent and firm-specific, rather than sizespecific.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Utrecht School of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 05-02.

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Length: 27 pages
Date of creation: Nov 2004
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Handle: RePEc:use:tkiwps:0502

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Related research
Keywords: Gibrat's Law; Firm Growth; Pharmaceutical Industry; Heterogeneity; Bayesian Estimation;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C11 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General - - - Bayesian Analysis
C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data
D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior
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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References listed on IDEAS
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    Other versions:
Full references

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. Elena Cefis & Orietta Marsili & Hans Schenk, 2009. "The effects of mergers and acquisitions on the firm size distribution," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 1-20, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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