José Mata

On the Evolution of the Firm Size Distribution: Facts and Theory

Using a comprehensive data set of Portuguese manufacturing firms, we show that the firm size distribution is significantly right-skewed, evolving over time toward a log-normal distribution. We also show that selection accounts for very little of this evolution. Instead, we propose a simple theory based on financing constraint. A calibrated version of our model does a good job at explaining the evolution of the firm size distribution.

Life Duration of New Firms

The authors follow firms created in Portuguese manufacturing in 1983 and study the determinants of their lifetime. One fifth of them died during the first year of their lives and only 50 percent survived for four years. Duration and limited-dependent variable models are employed to ascertain the relative importance of industry- and firm-specific variables to in explaining the period between firm birth and its disappearance from economic activity. New firm failure varies negatively with firm start-up size, the number of plants operated by the firm, and the industry growth rate, and positively with the extent of entry in the industry. Copyright 1994 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

The survival of new plants: Start-up conditions and post-entry evolution

This paper examines the longevity of entrants. We find size to be an important determinant of the chances of survival, this being particularly relevant to de novo entrants as compared to entry by established firms. Current size is also found to be a better predictor of failure than initial size. Moreover, our findings indicate that, after controlling for size differences, past growth matters for survival suggesting a partial adjustment process for firm size in the post entry period. Finally, new plants are more likely to live longer if they enter growing industries or industries with little entry activity.

Firm growth during infancy

In this paper, we study the post-entry patterns of survival and growth of firms established in Portuguese manufacturing in 1983. Our data suggest the existence of a highly turbulent economy, with a very large number of small firms being created, but a great proportion of new firms disappearing in the first years subsequent to their birth. Survivors, however, grow quite fast and we found that small firms grow faster than their larger counterparts. Moreover, we found that the growth decision of firms is affected by a firm specific component, which is also correlated with firm size. These two effects are oppositely signed and, therefore, estimates that fail to take this firm specific effect into account are likely to be strongly biased towards zero.

Closure and Divestiture By Foreign Entrants: The Impact of Entry and Post-Entry Strategies

We analyze the longevity of foreign entrants explicitly considering two possible ways of exit: firm closure and capital divestiture. We find that entry and post-entry strategies affect the longevity of firms and of foreign equity holdings, but in different manners. While the ownership arrangements and organizational structure affect the likelihood of divestment, they exert no significant effect upon closure. The entry mode exerts opposite effects on the two modes of exit, greenfield entrants being more likely to shutdown, but less likely to be divested. Only human capital affects closure and divestment in the same manner. Firms with large endowments of human capital are less likely to exit, irrespective of the exit mode considered.

Entry and type of entrant: Evidence from Portugal

Abstract This paper presents an overview of the importance of entry in Portuguese manufacturing, according to the type of entrant, and investigates its determinants, it being found that they differ according to the pre-entry position of the potential entrant. We found that de novo entry is sensitive to most entry barriers, and even deterred by entry of firms established in the industry or in related industries. The plant creation decision of these latter firms is affected by economies of scale: they refrain from opening new establishments when economies of scale are important, since they can expand output within their installed plants.

Box-Cox quantile regression and the distribution of firm sizes

Using the Box-Cox quantile regression model, we analyse the size distribution of firms in Portuguese manufacturing during the 1980s. Specifically, we estimate the effect of selected industry attributes on the location, scale, skewness and kurtosis of the conditional size distributions of firms. We find that industry attributes affect the size of firms in the same direction across the distribution, but the effects of these variables are typically much greater at the largest quantiles. Over time the distribution shifted towards smaller firms, due mainly to the way the economy responds to industry characteristics rather than to changes of the level of these characteristics. The prediction of lognormality, implied by Gibrats Law, is soundly rejected by the observed distribution of firm sizes. However, we found that, at least in 1983, lognormality is a reasonable description of the conditional size distribution. Copyright

The post-entry performance of firms: Introduction

Abstract This article summarizes the contents of the special issue of the International Journal of Industrial Organization on the post-entry performance of firms, as well as placing it in the context of a growing literature on industry demographics. A series of studies focusing on the process of entry has led to the conclusion that what happens to firms subsequent to their entry is at least as important as the entry process itself. Understanding the post-entry performance of firms is important because it sheds light on the selection process of markets enabling some firms to survive and grow, while others stagnate and ultimately exit.

Small firm births and macroeconomic fluctuations

Using different definitions of what constitutes a small firm, this paper analyses the effect of business conditions on the start-up of small firms. It is found that small firm births exhibit a pro-cyclical behaviour, irrespective of the threshold used to define a small firm. The smallest new firms, however, seem to be less responsive to the opportunity cost of capital. Finally, no relationship was found between entry of small firms and industry growth and profiability.

Firm entry and firm growth

This paper reports on the importance of firm entry and growth flows in Portuguese manufacturing during the period 1982–86, and investigates their determinants. We find that both movements are induced by past profitability and deterred by economies of scale, product differentiation and sunk costs. The analysis does not reject the hypothesis that the determinants of firm entry and growth are quantitatively the same, thereby giving some support to the hypothesis that entry and expansion are close substitutes in absorbing industry excess profits, and that the choice between them does not depend on the height of the entry/mobility barriers.