Growth of Large Enterprises and Their Market Environments

Abstract

The study of competition in its European setting has traditionally emphasized dynamic processes and institutions rather than equilibrium models (de Jong, 1986). One prominent subject has been the growth of large firms, its causes, and its contribution to the concentration of control overall as well as in particular markets. De Jong (1988) pointed out the considerable increase that had occurred during 1962–1986 in the largest firms’ share of gross domestic product in economies other than the United States. He mentioned a number of factors contributing to the relative growth of the largest firms, such as diversifying mergers and changes in the relative sizes of their base sectors and in their competitive positions within these sectors. He also noted the close ties between the growth rates of large firms and of their national economies, which in the 1970s led the large European firms to gain on their mature British counterparts (Jacquemin and de Jong, 1977, pp.97–101).KeywordsLarge FirmTotal SaleSlope CoefficientFederal Trade CommissionLarge EnterpriseThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.