Tests of Alternative Theories of Firm Growth

David Evans ()

Journal of Political Economy, 1987, vol. 95, issue 4, pages 657-74

Abstract: This study examines the relationships among firm growth, firm size, and firm age for a sample of manufacturing firms between 1976 and 1982. Firm growth is found to decrease with firm age and firm size. These findings are robust to alternative assumptions concerning the effects of sample censoring and the functional form of the growth relationship. The inverse growth-age relationship is consistent with a theory of firm learning proposed by Boyan Jovanovic while the inverse growth-size relationship is inconsistent with a number of theories that assume or imply Gibrat's law. Copyright 1987 by University of Chicago Press.

Date: 1987
View citations in EconPapers

Downloads: (external link)
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-3808%2819870 ... O%3B2-S&origin=repec full text (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to JSTOR subscribers. See http://www.jstor.org for details.

Related works:
Working Paper: Tests of Alternative Theories of Firm Growth (1986)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:95:y:1987:i:4:p:657-74

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JPE/order1.html

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Political Economy is edited by Steven D. Levitt, MONIKA PIAZZESI, CANICE PRENDERGAST and ROBERT SHIMER

More articles in Journal of Political Economy from University of Chicago Press
Address: The University of Chicago Press, Journals Division, P.O. Box 37005 Chicago, IL 60637
Series data maintained by Christopher F. Baum ().