The Origins of Firm Heterogeneity: A Production Network Approach

67 Pages Posted: 15 Jan 2019 Last revised: 7 Jul 2024

See all articles by Andrew B. Bernard

Andrew B. Bernard

Dartmouth College - Tuck School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Emmanuel Dhyne

National Bank of Belgium

Glenn Magerman

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - European Center for Advanced Research in Economics and Statistics (ECARES); Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)

Kalina Manova

University College London - Department of Economics

Andreas Moxnes

University of Oslo - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: January 2019

Abstract

This paper quantifies the origins of firm size heterogeneity when firms are interconnected in a production network. Using the universe of buyer-supplier relationships in Belgium, the paper develops a set of stylized facts that motivate a model in which firms buy inputs from upstream suppliers and sell to downstream buyers and final demand. Larger firm size can come from high production capability, more or better buyers and suppliers, and/or better matches between buyers and suppliers. Downstream factors explain the vast majority of firm size heterogeneity. Firms with higher production capability have greater market shares among their customers, but also higher input costs and fewer customers. As a result, high production capability firms have lower sales unconditionally and higher sales conditional on their input prices. Counterfactual analysis suggests that the production network accounts for more than half of firm size dispersion. Taken together, our results suggest that multiple firm attributes underpin their success or failure, and that models with only one source of firm heterogeneity fail to capture the majority of firm size dispersion.

Suggested Citation

Bernard, Andrew B. and Dhyne, Emmanuel and Magerman, Glenn and Manova, Kalina B. and Moxnes, Andreas, The Origins of Firm Heterogeneity: A Production Network Approach (January 2019). NBER Working Paper No. w25441, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3315275

Andrew B. Bernard (Contact Author)

Dartmouth College - Tuck School of Business ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

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Emmanuel Dhyne

National Bank of Belgium ( email )

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Glenn Magerman

Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) - European Center for Advanced Research in Economics and Statistics (ECARES)

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Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)

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Kalina B. Manova

University College London - Department of Economics ( email )

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Andreas Moxnes

University of Oslo - Department of Economics ( email )

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Norway

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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