Growth and Size of Firms

Foreign Direct Investment and Local Economic Development: Beyond Productivity Spillovers

“…There has been much debate on the growth rates of small relative to large firms, see for instance Hart and Oulton (1996). Although this discussion is far from conclusive, it does cast considerable doubt on whether small plants can be considered identical in behaviour to large establishments.…”

“…Furthermore, we reduce our sample to observations from continuing plants, as in Hart and Oulton (1996). Thus, our results should be interpreted as effects on growth conditional on staying in the industry.…”

Private sector employment growth, 1998-2004: a panel analysis of British workplaces

“…In Britain, there is a small empirical literature on employment growth but it is somewhat under-developed due to data inadequacies (e.g., Dunne and Hughes, 1994;Hart and Oulton, 1996;Geroski et al, 1997;Geroski et al, 2003;Bryson, 2004). This is unfortunate since analysis of establishment-level dynamics, including patterns of employment growth and exit, can contribute to a better understanding of how jobs are created and destroyed.…”

“…First, it appears that growth rates of new and small firms are negatively related to their initial size, with smaller firms at the outset growing more rapidly than larger ones (for the UK see Dunne and Hughes, 1994). However, Gibrat's Law appears to hold for the UK in all but the smallest companies (Hart and Oulton, 1996).…”

“…Hart andOulton (1996: 1250) readily admit that their results may be biased because they relate only to surviving companies. However, studies that seek to adjust for sample selection also seem to support Gibrat's Law.…”