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New goods and the size distribution of firms

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Author Info
Erzo G.J. Luttmer
Abstract

This paper describes a simple model of aggregate and firm growth based on the introduction of new goods. An incumbent firm can combine labor with blueprints for goods it already produces to develop new blueprints. Every worker in the economy is also a potential entrepreneur who can design a new blueprint from scratch and set up a new firm. The implied firm size distribution closely matches the fat tail observed in the data when the marginal entrepreneur is far out in the tail of the entrepreneurial skill distribution. The model produces a variance of firm growth that declines with size. But the decline is more rapid than suggested by the evidence. The model also predicts a new-firm entry rate equal to only 2.5% per annum, instead of the observed rate of 10% in U.S. data.

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Paper provided by Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis in its series Working Papers with number 649.

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Date of creation: 2007
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Handle: RePEc:fip:fedmwp:649

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Keywords: Production (Economic theory)

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Stephen Hymer & Peter Pashigian, 1962. "Firm Size and Rate of Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70, pages 556. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Xavier Gabaix & Augustin Landier, 2006. "Why Has CEO Pay Increased So Much?," 2006 Meeting Papers 518, Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Tor Jakob Klette and Samuel Kortum, 2004. "Innovating Firms and Aggregate Innovation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(5), pages 986-1018, October.
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  4. Satyajit Chatterjee & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2007. "Spin-offs and the market for ideas," Working Papers 07-15, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Thomas J. Holmes & James A. Schmitz, Jr., 1995. "On the turnover of business firms and business managers," Working Papers 545, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
  6. Erzo G.J. Luttmer, 2006. "Consumer search and firm growth," Working Papers 645, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. [Downloadable!]
  7. Burdett, Kenneth & Vishwanath, Tara, 1988. "Balanced Matching and Labor Market Equilibrium," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(5), pages 1048-65, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Andrew Atkeson & Ariel Burstein, 2007. "Innovation, firm dynamics, and international trade," NBER Working Papers 13326, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-70, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Holmes, Thomas J & Schmitz, James A, Jr, 1995. "On the Turnover of Business Firms and Business Managers," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(5), pages 1005-38, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1978. "On the Size Distribution of Business Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(2), pages 508-523, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Xavier Gabaix, 2005. "The Granular Origins of Aggregate Fluctuations," 2005 Meeting Papers 470, Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!]
  13. Hopenhayn, Hugo A, 1992. "Entry, Exit, and Firm Dynamics in Long Run Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(5), pages 1127-50, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Andrew Atkeson & Ariel Burstein, 2007. "Innovation, Firm Dynamics, and International Trade," Levine's Working Paper Archive 122247000000001423, UCLA Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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