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The Industry Life-Cycle of the Size Distribution of Firms

Author Info

Listed author(s):
  • Emin Dinlersoz

    (Census Bureau)

  • Glenn MacDonald

    (Wahington University)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the evolution of the distributions of output and employment across firms in U.S. manufacturing industries from 1963 until 1997. The firm size distribution changes significantly as an industry goes through stages of its life-cycle. The evolutions of the employment and output distributions also differ significantly, but display strong inter-industry regularities, including that the nature of the evolution depends on whether the industry is experiencing growth, shakeout, maturity, or decline. The observed patterns have implications for theories of industry dynamics and evolution. (Copyright: Elsevier)

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File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.red.2009.01.001
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Article provided by Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics in its journal Review of Economic Dynamics.

Volume (Year): 12 (2009)
Issue (Month): 4 (October)
Pages: 648-667

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Handle: RePEc:red:issued:07-107
DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2009.01.001
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Keywords: Firm size distribution; Industry evolution; Industry dynamics; Manufacturing industries;

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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
  • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General

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  1. Oliver Linton & Esfandiar Maasoumi & Yoon-Jae Whang, 2005. "Consistent Testing for Stochastic Dominance under General Sampling Schemes," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(3), pages 735-765.
  2. 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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  17. Timothy Dunne & Mark J. Roberts & Larry Samuelson, 1989. "The Growth and Failure of U. S. Manufacturing Plants," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 104(4), pages 671-698.
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  19. 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 315-331, Part I, M.
  20. Geroski, P. A., 1995. "What do we know about entry?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 421-440, December.
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Cited by:

  1. J.W.B. Bos & E. Stam, 2011. "Gazelles, Industry Growth and Structural Change," Working Papers 11-02, Utrecht School of Economics.
  2. Segarra, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2012. "An appraisal of firm size distribution: Does sample size matter?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 314-328.
  3. Finbarr Livesey, 2012. "Rationales for Industrial Policy Based on Industry Maturity," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 349-363, September.
  4. Natália Barbosa & Ana Paula Faria & Vasco Eiriz, 2014. "Industry- and firm-specific factors of innovation novelty," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(3), pages 865-902.
  5. Heinrich, Torsten & Dai, Shuanping, 2016. "Diversity of firm sizes, complexity, and industry structure in the Chinese economy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 90-106.
  6. Barbosa, Natália & Faria, Ana Paula, 2011. "Innovation across Europe: How important are institutional differences?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1157-1169.
  7. Qi Li & Patrick Paul Walsh, 2009. "The Firm Size Distribution in a Small Open Economy: Theory and Evidence," Working Papers 200920, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
  8. Christian Cordes & Tong-Yaa Su & Pontus Strimling, 2015. "Going Through a Crisis: Firm Devekopment and Firm SIze Distributions," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2015-06, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
  9. Moutinho, Ricardo & Au-Yong-Oliveira, Manuel & Coelho, Arnaldo & Manso, José Pires, 2015. "Beyond the “Innovation's Black-Box”: Translating R&D outlays into employment and economic growth," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 45-58.
  10. Forbes, Daniel P. & Kirsch, David A., 2011. "The study of emerging industries: Recognizing and responding to some central problems," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 589-602, September.
  11. MORITA, Hodaka & TANG, Cheng-Tao, 2017. "Asset Specificity, Human Capital Acquisition, and Labor Market Competition," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-42, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.
  12. Jaap W. B. Bos & Erik Stam, 2014. "Gazelles and industry growth: a study of young high-growth firms in The Netherlands," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(1), pages 145-169, February.

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