IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v44y2015i4p889-904.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firm growth in the course of mergers and acquisitions

Author

Listed:
  • Dirk Burghardt
  • Marco Helm

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of mergers and acquisitions on employment growth in newly acquired firm establishments. Based on a unique full sample of manufacturing and services firms in Switzerland, our main finding is that the relative size of a deal is an important growth determinant: While the initial size of the acquiring firm is positively related to an acquired establishment’s growth, the opposite holds true for the initial size of the acquisition. We also contribute to a controversial debate on firm growth in general by rejecting Gibrat’s law of proportionate growth for firm establishments in Switzerland. In fact, employment growth decreases with an establishment’s initial size and age—at the aggregate level as well as within separate subsamples of manufacturing and services firms. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Dirk Burghardt & Marco Helm, 2015. "Firm growth in the course of mergers and acquisitions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 889-904, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:44:y:2015:i:4:p:889-904
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-014-9624-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11187-014-9624-y
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-014-9624-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. D.B. Audretsch & L. Klomp & E. Santarelli & A.R. Thurik, 2004. "Gibrat's Law: Are the Services Different?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 24(3), pages 301-324, May.
    2. Robson, Paul J A & Bennett, Robert J, 2000. "SME Growth: The Relationship with Business Advice and External Collaboration," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 193-208.
    3. Dunne, Paul & Hughes, Alan, 1994. "Age, Size, Growth and Survival: UK Companies in the 1980s," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 115-140, June.
    4. Alan J. Auerbach, 1988. "Corporate Takeovers: Causes and Consequences," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number auer88-1.
    5. Robert E. Carpenter & Bruce C. Petersen, 2002. "Is The Growth Of Small Firms Constrained By Internal Finance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 298-309, May.
    6. Holger Görg & David Greenaway, 2016. "Much Ado about Nothing? Do Domestic Firms Really Benefit from Foreign Direct Investment?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT Volume 53: World Scientific Studies in International Economics, chapter 9, pages 163-189, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Sanjai Bhagat & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1990. "Hostile Takeovers in the 1980s: The Return to Corporate Specialization," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 21(1990 Micr), pages 1-84.
    8. Conyon, Martin J. & Girma, Sourafel & Thompson, Steve & Wright, Peter W., 2002. "The impact of mergers and acquisitions on company employment in the United Kingdom," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 31-49, January.
    9. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    10. David J. TEECE, 2008. "Profiting from technological innovation: Implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: The Transfer And Licensing Of Know-How And Intellectual Property Understanding the Multinational Enterprise in the Modern World, chapter 5, pages 67-87, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Evans, David S, 1987. "The Relationship between Firm Growth, Size, and Age: Estimates for 100 Manufacturing Industries," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 567-581, June.
    12. John Sutton, 1997. "Gibrat's Legacy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 40-59, March.
    13. Holger Görg & Eric Strobl, 2016. "Spillovers from Foreign Firms through Worker Mobility: An Empirical Investigation," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: MULTINATIONAL ENTERPRISES AND HOST COUNTRY DEVELOPMENT, chapter 13, pages 243-259, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    14. Dietmar Harhoff & Konrad Stahl & Michaerl Woywode, 1998. "Legal Form, Growth and Exit of West German Firms—Empirical Results for Manufacturing, Construction, Trade and Service Industries," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 453-488, December.
    15. Blandina Oliveira & Adelino Fortunato, 2006. "Firm Growth and Liquidity Constraints: A Dynamic Analysis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 139-156, October.
    16. McGuckin, Robert H. & Nguyen, Sang V., 2001. "The impact of ownership changes: a view from labor markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 739-762, April.
    17. Blonigen, Bruce A. & Tomlin, KaSaundra, 2001. "Size and growth of Japanese plants in the United States," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 931-952, May.
    18. Paul Geroski & Klaus Gugler, 2004. "Corporate growth convergence in Europe," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 56(4), pages 597-620, October.
    19. Hall, Bronwyn H, 1987. "The Relationship between Firm Size and Firm Growth in the U.S. Manufacturing Sector," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 583-606, June.
    20. Evans, David S, 1987. "Tests of Alternative Theories of Firm Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(4), pages 657-674, August.
    21. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Niklas Elert, 2013. "When is Gibrat’s law a law?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 133-147, June.
    22. Timothy Dunne & Mark J. Roberts & Larry Samuelson, 1989. "The Growth and Failure of U. S. Manufacturing Plants," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(4), pages 671-698.
    23. Gugler, Klaus & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2004. "The effects of mergers on company employment in the USA and Europe," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 481-502, April.
    24. Buehler Stefan & Kaiser Christian & Jaeger Franz, 2005. "Competition Policy and Exit Rates: Evidence from Switzerland," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-28, November.
    25. Paulo Nunes & Marco Gonçalves & Zélia Serrasqueiro, 2013. "The influence of age on SMEs’ growth determinants: empirical evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 249-272, February.
    26. Mercedes Teruel-Carrizosa, 2010. "Gibrat’s law and the learning process," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 34(4), pages 355-373, May.
    27. Charles Brown & James L. Medoff, 1988. "The Impact of Firm Acquisitions on Labor," NBER Chapters, in: Corporate Takeovers: Causes and Consequences, pages 9-32, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Francesca Lotti & Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2003. "Does Gibrat's Law hold among young, small firms?," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 213-235, August.
    29. Gavin Reid & Zhibin Xu, 2012. "Generalising Gibrat: using Chinese evidence founded on fieldwork," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 1017-1028, November.
    30. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-670, May.
    31. Almus, Matthias & Nerlinger, Eric A, 2000. "Testing "Gibrat's Law" for Young Firms--Empirical Results for West Germany," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, August.
    32. Takehiko Yasuda, 2005. "Firm Growth, Size, Age and Behavior in Japanese Manufacturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-15, December.
    33. Lichtenberg, Frank R & Siegel, Donald, 1990. "The Effect of Ownership Changes on the Employment and Wages of Central Office and Other Personnel," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(2), pages 383-408, October.
    34. Gregor Andrade & Mark Mitchell & Erik Stafford, 2001. "New Evidence and Perspectives on Mergers," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 103-120, Spring.
    35. Robert Lensink & Paul Steen & Elmer Sterken, 2005. "Uncertainty and Growth of the Firm," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 381-391, May.
    36. Gerke J. Hoogstra & Jouke van Dijk, 2004. "Explaining Firm Employment Growth: Does Location Matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 22(3_4), pages 179-192, April.
    37. repec:bla:jindec:v:46:y:1998:i:4:p:453-88 is not listed on IDEAS
    38. Georgios Fotopoulos & Ioannis Giotopoulos, 2010. "Gibrat’s law and persistence of growth in Greek manufacturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 191-202, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Méndez Ortega, Carles, & Teruel, Mercedes, 2018. "To acquire or not to acquire: Mergers and Acquisitions in the Software Industry," Working Papers 2072/307043, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    2. Karen Geurts & Johannes Van Biesebroeck, 2019. "Employment growth following takeovers," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 50(4), pages 916-950, December.
    3. David Urbano & Andreu Turro & Sebastian Aparicio, 2020. "Innovation through R&D activities in the European context: antecedents and consequences," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(5), pages 1481-1504, October.
    4. Stephanie Reitzinger & Astrid Pennerstorfer, 2021. "The size–growth relationship in the social services sector in Austria," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 15(3), pages 445-466, September.
    5. Carles Méndez-Ortega & Mercedes Teruel, 2020. "To acquire or not to acquire: the effects of acquisitions in the software industry," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 793-814, July.
    6. Marius Tuft Mathisen & Raj Krishnan Shankar & Øystein Widding & Einar Rasmussen & Alexander McKelvie, 2022. "Enablers of exit through trade sale: the case of early-stage research-based spin-offs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 521-535, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daria Ciriaci & Pietro Moncada-Paternò-Castello & Peter Voigt, 2016. "Innovation and job creation: a sustainable relation?," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 6(2), pages 189-213, August.
    2. Aili Tang, 2015. "Does Gibrat’s law hold for Swedish energy firms?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 659-674, September.
    3. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Niklas Elert, 2013. "When is Gibrat’s law a law?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 133-147, June.
    4. Ferrando, Annalisa & Martinez-Carrascal, Carmen & Coluzzi, Chiara, 2009. "Financing obstacles and growth: an analysis for euro area non-financial corporations," Working Paper Series 997, European Central Bank.
    5. Harald Oberhofer, 2013. "Employment Effects of Acquisitions: Evidence from Acquired European Firms," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 42(3), pages 345-363, May.
    6. Gavin Reid & Zhibin Xu, 2012. "Generalising Gibrat: using Chinese evidence founded on fieldwork," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 1017-1028, November.
    7. Coad, Alex & Segarra, Agustí & Teruel, Mercedes, 2013. "Like milk or wine: Does firm performance improve with age?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 173-189.
    8. D.B. Audretsch & L. Klomp & E. Santarelli & A.R. Thurik, 2004. "Gibrat's Law: Are the Services Different?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 24(3), pages 301-324, May.
    9. Alex Coad & Werner Hölzl, 2012. "Firm Growth: Empirical Analysis," Chapters, in: Michael Dietrich & Jackie Krafft (ed.), Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm, chapter 24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Alessandro Gambini & Alberto Zazzaro, 2013. "Long-lasting bank relationships and growth of firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 977-1007, May.
    11. Halvarsson, Daniel, 2013. "Industry Differences in the Firm Size Distribution," Ratio Working Papers 214, The Ratio Institute.
    12. Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov & Elert, Niklas & Lang, Ã…sa, 2012. "Does Gibrat's law hold for retailing? Evidence from Sweden," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 464-469.
    13. Giorgio Barba Navaretti & Davide Castellani & Fabio Pieri, 2014. "Age and firm growth: evidence from three European countries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 823-837, December.
    14. Jaana Lappalainen & Mervi Niskanen, 2009. "Does Board Composition and Ownership Structure Affect Firm Growth? Evidence from Finnish SMEs," Research in Economics and Business: Central and Eastern Europe, Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology, vol. 1(1).
    15. ŠEmsa ÖZAR & Gökhan ÖZERTAN & Zeynep Burcu İRFANOĞLU, 2008. "Micro And Small Enterprise Growth In Turkey: Under The Shadow Of Financial Crisis," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 46(4), pages 331-362, December.
    16. Marko Peric & Vanja Vitezic, 2016. "Impact of global economic crisis on firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 1-12, January.
    17. Canarella, Giorgio & Miller, Stephen M., 2018. "The determinants of growth in the U.S. information and communication technology (ICT) industry: A firm-level analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 259-271.
    18. Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Is entrepreneurship necessarily good? Microeconomic evidence from developed and developing countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(6), pages 1453-1495, December.
    19. Marko Peric & Vanja Vitezic, 2016. "Impact of global economic crisis on firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 1-12, January.
    20. Geurts, Karen & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2016. "Firm creation and post-entry dynamics of de novo entrants," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 59-104.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm growth; Employment; Gibrat’s law; Mergers and acquisitions; Deal size; Establishment-level data; Switzerland; G34; L11; L25; M51; L26;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:44:y:2015:i:4:p:889-904. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.