Gibrat's Law: Are the Services Different?

Roy Thurik, Enrico Santarelli, David Audretsch () and Luuk Klomp

No H200201, Scales Research Reports from EIM Business and Policy Research

Abstract: Several noted surveys on intra-industry dynamics have reached the conclusion from a large body of evidence that Gibrat's Law does not hold. However, almost all of these studies have been based on manufacturing. There are compelling reasons to doubt whether these findings hold for the services. In this paper we examine whether the basic tenet underlying Gibrat's Law - that growth rates are independent of firm size - can be rejected for the services as it has been for manufacturing. Based on a large sample of Dutch firms the evidence suggests that growth rates are, in fact, independent of firm size. Validation of Gibrat's Law in the services suggests that the dynamics of industrial organisation for services may not simply mirror that for manufacturing. This report includes a full survey of more than 50 empirical studies on firm growth rates.

Pages: 48 pages
Date: 2002-08-27
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Journal Article: Gibrat's Law: Are the Services Different? (2004)
Working Paper: Gibrat's Law: are the services different? (2002)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eim:papers:h200201

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