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Models of firm heterogeneity and growth

Author

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  • Erzo G. J. Luttmer

Abstract

Although employment at individual firms tends to be highly non-stationary, the employment size distribution of all firms in the United States appears to be stationary. It closely resembles a Pareto distribution. There is a lot of entry and exit, mostly of small firms. This paper surveys general equilibrium models that can be used to interpret these facts and explores the role of innovation by new and incumbent firms in determining aggregate growth. The existence of a balanced growth path with a stationary employment size distribution depends crucially on assumptions made about the cost of entry. Some type of labor must be an essential input in setting up new firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Erzo G. J. Luttmer, 2010. "Models of firm heterogeneity and growth," Working Papers 678, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedmwp:678
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    Cited by:

    1. Adrien Bilal & Niklas Engbom & Simon Mongey & Giovanni L. Violante, 2022. "Firm and Worker Dynamics in a Frictional Labor Market," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(4), pages 1425-1462, July.
    2. Acemoglu, Daron & Cao, Dan, 2015. "Innovation by entrants and incumbents," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 255-294.
    3. Guiso, Luigi & Rustichini, Aldo, 2018. "Understanding the size and profitability of firms: The role of a biological factor," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 65-85.
    4. Jakub Growiec & Fabio Pammolli & Massimo Riccaboni, 2020. "Innovation and Corporate Dynamics: A Theoretical Framework," Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, vol. 12(1), pages 1-45, March.
    5. William P. Barnett, 2017. "Metacompetition: Competing over the Game to Be Played," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(4), pages 212-219, December.
    6. Jan Schulz & Mishael Milaković, 2023. "How Wealthy are the Rich?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(1), pages 100-123, March.
    7. Facundo Piguillem & Loris Rubini, 2021. "Do non‐exporters lose from lower trade costs?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1161-1185, November.
    8. Hugo Hopenhayn & Julian Neira & Rish Singhania, 2022. "From Population Growth to Firm Demographics: Implications for Concentration, Entrepreneurship and the Labor Share," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(4), pages 1879-1914, July.
    9. Loredana Fattorini & Mahdi Ghodsi & Armando Rungi, 2020. "Cohesion Policy Meets Heterogeneous Firms," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(4), pages 803-817, July.
    10. Tian, Can, 2022. "Learning and firm dynamics in a stochastic equilibrium," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    11. Hengjie Ai & Dana Kiku & Rui Li & Jincheng Tong, 2021. "A Unified Model of Firm Dynamics with Limited Commitment and Assortative Matching," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(1), pages 317-356, February.
    12. Delmar, Frédéric & Wallin, Jonas & Nofal, Ahmed Maged, 2022. "Modeling new-firm growth and survival with panel data using event magnitude regression," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).

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    Keywords

    Productivity;

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