Vertical organization of production and firm growth

摘要

This paper empirically explores if different vertical organizational forms (i.e. vertical integration versus disintegration) give rise to unlike growth "behaviors" within the same industry. An econometric analysis is conducted in a sample of around 500 Italian machine tool (MT) builders for the period 1998-2007. Ceteris paribus, vertically integrated firms result to be characterized by a less dispersed distribution of growth rates than their disintegrated counterparts. By means of analyzing how different organizational forms map into the distribution of output growth rates, this work provides insight into the firm dynamics in a mature industry in which both vertically integrated and disintegrated firms coexist.