Common Properties and Sectoral Specificities in the Dynamics of U.S. Manufacturing Companies

The size distribution and growth rate dynamics of U.S. companies have been extensively studied by many authors. In this paper, using the COMPUSTAT database, we extend the analysis to disaggregated data, studying 15 sectors of the U.S. manufacturing industry. The sectoral investigation reveals the presence of general statistical properties that can be considered valid across all the studied sectors. In particular, the probability density of firms growth rates invariably displays a characteristic tent shape and the relation between the size of a firm and the variance of its rates of growth is characterized, in different sectors, by very similar scaling relations. The presence of characteristics that are robust and sectoral invariant hints at the existence of generic statistical properties shaping the dynamic of firms across the whole industry.