We explore how financial constraints distort the entry decisions among otherwise productive entrepreneurs and limit growth of promising young firms. A model of liquidity-constrained entrepreneurs suggests that the easing of credit constraints can induce more entry of firms with greater long-run...

Firms' sensitivities to business cycles differ by size and age. The differences are large: "young and small firms" are more cyclical than large firms, whereas "old and small" firms are closer to acyclical. A heterogeneous-firm model with heterogeneous returns to scale can replicate these...

This paper explores how macroeconomic conditions affect firm dynamics in Egypt between 1911 and 1948 by constructing an extensive dataset of all companies ever founded in this period. By exploiting Egyptian economy's specialization in cotton exports, I use fluctuations in the world price of...

This paper presents empirical evidence on the nature of idiosyncratic shocks to firms and discusses its role for firm behavior and aggregate fluctuations. We document that firm-level sales and productivity are hit by heavy-tailed shocks and follow a nonlinear stochastic process, thus departing...

It is well known from time series analysis that shocks to aggregate output have very persistent effects. This paper argues that the relation between the expected growth rate of a firm and its size provides a microfoundation for such aggregate persistence. The empirical evidence indicates that...

We use the latest available empirical evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 shock on the EU economy to predict its effect on firm entry, and in particular on high-growth startups, and on the related short- and long-run impact on employment growth. We find that the COVID-19 shock is expected to...

This study generalizes a standard heterogeneous firm model with endogenous entry and exit by allowing for asset bubbles. We highlight the selection effect of bubbles that incentivizes low-productivity firms to enter or remain in the market. We show that a rise in the aggregate bubble can boost...