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The Effects of Mergers and Acquisitions on the Firm Size Distribution

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Author Info
Elena Cefis ()
Orietta Marsili ()
Hans Schenk ()

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Abstract

This paper provides new empirical evidence on the effects of mergers and acquisitions on the shape of the firm size distribution (FSD), by using data of the population of manufacturing firms in the Netherlands. Our analysis shows that M&As do not affect the size distribution when we consider the entire population of firms. When we focus on the firms involved in a M&A event, we observed a shift of the FSD towards larger sizes. FSD becomes more concentrated around the mean size, less skewed to the right hand side, and thinner at the tails as a whole. The shift toward higher sizes due to M&A is not uniform but affects firms of different sizes in different ways. While the number of firms in the lower tail decreased, the number of firms in the central size classes increased substantially and outweighed the increase in the number (and mean size) of firms in the upper tail of the distribution (consequently the overall market concentration measured by the Herfindhal index declines). M&As leads to a departure from log-normality of the FSD, suggesting that external growth does not follow a Gibrat’s law. Our counterfactual analysis highlights that only internal growth does not affect the shape of the size distribution of firms. On the contrary, it suggests that the change in the size distribution is almost entirely due to the external growth of the firms.

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Paper provided by Utrecht School of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 06-17.

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Length: 33 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2006
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Handle: RePEc:use:tkiwps:0617

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Related research
Keywords: Firms Size Distribution; Mergers and Acquisitions; Firm Entry and Exit; Industry Concentration;

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Find related papers by 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
D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior
C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods

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References listed on IDEAS
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. Luís M B Cabral & José Mata, 2003. "On the Evolution of the Firm Size Distribution: Facts and Theory," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1075-1090, September. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Ijiri, Yuji & Simon, Herbert A, 1971. "Effects of Mergers and Acquisitions on Business Firm Concentration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(2), pages 314-22, March-Apr. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Francesca Lotti & Enrico Santarelli, 2004. "Industry Dynamics and the Distribution of Firm Sizes: A Nonparametric Approach," Southern Economic Journal, Southern Economic Association, vol. 70(3), pages 443-466, January.
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  4. Elena Cefis & Matteo Ciccarelli & Luigi Orsenigo, 2004. "Testing Gibrat's Legacy: A Bayesian Approach to Study the Growth of Firms," Working Papers 05-02, Utrecht School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  5. McCloughan, Patrick, 1995. "Simulation of Concentration Development from Modified Gibrat Growth-Entry-Exit Processes," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(4), pages 405-33, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Giulio Bottazzi & Angelo Secchi, 2006. "Explaining the Distribution of Firm Growth Rates," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(2), pages 235-256, Summer.
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  7. Dickerson, Andrew P & Gibson, Heather D & Tsakalotos, Euclid, 1997. "The Impact of Acquisitions on Company Performance: Evidence from a Large Panel of UK Firms," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 49(3), pages 344-61, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Ijiri, Yuji & Simon, Herbert A, 1974. "Interpretations of Departures from the Pareto Curve Firm-Size Distributions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(2), pages 315-31, Part I, M. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Giulio Bottazzi & Elena Cefis & Giovanni Dosi, 2001. "Corporate Growth and Industrial Structure. Some Evidence from the Italian Manufacturing Industry," LEM Papers Series 2001/08, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy. [Downloadable!]
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