Firm Growth: A Survey

We survey the phenomenon of the growth of firms drawing on literature from economics,management, and sociology. We begin with a review of empirical ‘stylised facts’before discussing theoretical contributions. Firm growth is characterized by a predominantstochastic element, making it difficult to predict. Indeed, previous empirical researchinto the determinants of firm growth has had a limited success. We also observethat theoretical propositions concerning the growth of firms are often amiss. We concludethat progress in this area requires solid empirical work, perhaps making use ofnovel statistical techniques...