The Rise of Multiunit Firms in U.S. Manufacturing

Abstract

The modern multiunit enterprise has been touted by historians and economic historians as a major and important phase of organizational change and a significant source of growth. However, most studies concerning this phenomenon have been based on a sample of the very largest enterprises. This article utilizes data on a complete sample of firms provided by the pioneering works of Thorp (1924) and Thorp et al. (1941) and the Census Bureau's Enterprise Statistics and other census sources to document and examine the rise of modern multiunit firms in U.S. manufacturing over the twentieth century. The analysis of the data suggests that the modern multiunit firm arose to take advantage of economies of marketing rather than those of scale and scope.