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Firm Size and Growth Rate Variance: The Effects of Data Truncation

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  • Marco Capasso
  • Elena Cefis

Abstract

This paper discusses the effects of the existence of natural and/or exogenously imposed thresholds in firm size distributions on estimations of the relation between firm size and the variance in firm growth rates. We argue that these estimations are upwardly biased whenever the threshold operates on the same proxy that is used to calculate the growth rates. We show the potential impact of the bias on simulated data, suggest a methodology to improve these estimations, and present an empirical analysis on Dutch firms. The only stable relation that emerges is the negative relationship between firm size and growth rate variance. Copyright The Author(s) 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Capasso & Elena Cefis, 2012. "Firm Size and Growth Rate Variance: The Effects of Data Truncation," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 41(3), pages 193-205, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revind:v:41:y:2012:i:3:p:193-205
    DOI: 10.1007/s11151-012-9350-z
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    1. John Sutton, 1997. "Gibrat's Legacy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 40-59, March.
    2. Giulio Bottazzi & Alex Coad & Nadia Jacoby & Angelo Secchi, 2011. "Corporate growth and industrial dynamics: evidence from French manufacturing," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 103-116.
    3. Giulio Bottazzi & Angelo Secchi, 2003. "Common Properties and Sectoral Specificities in the Dynamics of U.S. Manufacturing Companies," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 23(3_4), pages 217-232, December.
    4. Giulio Bottazzi & Angelo Secchi, 2006. "Explaining the distribution of firm growth rates," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(2), pages 235-256, June.
    5. Christopher F Baum, 2006. "An Introduction to Modern Econometrics using Stata," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, number imeus, March.
    6. Stephen Hymer & Peter Pashigian, 1962. "Firm Size and Rate of Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(6), pages 556-556.
    7. Giulio Bottazzi & Elena Cefis & Giovanni Dosi, 2002. "Corporate growth and industrial structures: some evidence from the Italian manufacturing industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(4), pages 705-723, August.
    8. Nunes Amaral, Luís A & Buldyrev, Sergey V & Havlin, Shlomo & Maass, Philipp & Salinger, Michael A & Eugene Stanley, H & Stanley, Michael H.R, 1997. "Scaling behavior in economics: The problem of quantifying company growth," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 244(1), pages 1-24.
    9. Alex Coad & Werner Hölzl, 2009. "On the Autocorrelation of Growth Rates," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 139-166, June.
    10. Alex Coad, 2007. "A Closer Look at Serial Growth Rate Correlation," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 31(1), pages 69-82, August.
    11. Kaushik Matia & Dongfeng Fu & Sergey V. Buldyrev & Fabio Pammolli & Massimo Riccaboni & H. Eugene Stanley, 2005. "Statistical Properties of Business Firms Structure and Growth," Papers physics/0502081, arXiv.org.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Marco Capasso & Tania Treibich & Bart Verspagen, 2015. "The medium-term effect of R&D on firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 39-62, June.
    2. Calvino, Flavio & Criscuolo, Chiara & Menon, Carlo & Secchi, Angelo, 2018. "Growth volatility and size: A firm-level study," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 390-407.
    3. Marco Capasso & Elena Cefis & Alessandro Sapio, 2013. "Reconciling quantile autoregressions of firm size and variance–size scaling," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 609-632, October.
    4. Fabio Pieri, 2015. "Vertical organization of production and firm growth behavior," Working Papers 1508, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    5. Fabio Pieri, 2018. "Vertical organization of production and firm growth," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(1), pages 83-106.
    6. Christos Axioglou & Nicos Christodoulakis, 2019. "Which firms survive in a crisis? Corporate dynamics in Greece 2001-2014," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 133, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    7. Claudiu Tiberiu Albulescu & Matei Tămășilă & Ilie Mihai Tăucean, 2021. "The Nonlinear Relationship Between Firm Size and Growth in the Automotive Industry," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 445-463, September.
    8. Murmann Johann Peter & Korn Jenny & Worch Hagen, 2014. "How Fast Can Firms Grow?," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 234(2-3), pages 210-233, April.
    9. Christos Axioglou & Nicos Christodoulakis, 2021. "Which firms survive in a crisis? Investigating Gibrat’s Law in Greece 2001–2014," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 48(2), pages 159-217, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm growth; Growth rate variance; Thresholds; Truncation; L25; C21;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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