Work

Corporate growth convergence in Europe*

Year: 2004

Type: article

Abstract: It is widely believed that the implementation of the Single Market Programme in 1992 has induced a transformation in industrial structures across Europe. Some people believe that it has driven Europe towards a common industrial structure. However, using a newly available database covering nearly every firm above 100 employees in 14 European countries over the time period 1994 to 1998, the hypothesis of convergence in corporate sizes within industries is unambiguously rejected by the data. A Gibrat process best describes the growth of very large and mature firms, but smaller and younger firms depart from this prediction. Pre-post 1992 comparisons using another database for larger listed firms reveal that the speed of convergence actually decreased post-1992.

Source: Oxford Economic Papers

DOI: 10.1093/oep/gpf055

Author: P. Geroski

Institutions: Centre for Economic Policy Research, London Business School

Language: English

Topic: Firm Innovation and Growth

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: green

Funder: Economic and Social Research Council