Firm Size Distribution under Horizontal and Vertical R&D

Pedro Gil and Fernanda Figueiredo ()
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Fernanda Figueiredo: CEAUL, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto

FEP Working Papers from Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto

Abstract: This paper studies the firm size distribution arising from an endogenous growth model of quality ladders with expanding variety. The probability distribution function of a given cohort of firms is a Poisson distribution that converges asymptotically to a normal of log size. However, due to firm entry propelled by horizontal R&D, the total distribution - i.e., when the entire population of firms is considered - is a mixture of Poisson distributions which is systematically right skewed and exhibits a fatter upper tail than the normal distribution of log size. Our theoretical results qualitatively match the empirical evidence found both for the cohort and the total distribution, and which has been presented as a challenge for theory to explain. Moreover, by obtaining a total distribution with a gradually falling variance over a long time span, the model is able to address complementary empirical evidence that points to a total distribution subtly evolving over time.

Keywords: Firm size distribution; Skewness; Heavy tails; Endogenous growth; Horizontal and vertical R&D (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L11 O38 O41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2010-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-ent, nep-ino and nep-tid
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:por:fepwps:389

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