Scope, Scale and Concentration: The 21st Century Firm
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Series
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Speaker(s)Gordon Phillips (Dartmouth College, United States)
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FieldSpatial Economics, Finance, Organizations and Markets, Macroeconomics
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LocationTinbergen Institute Amsterdam, room 1.60
Amsterdam -
Date and time
August 24, 2023
14:00 - 15:00
Abstract
We provide evidence that over the past 30 years, U.S. firms have expanded their
scope of operations. Increases in scope and scale were achieved largely without increasing traditional operating segments. Scope expansion significantly increases valuation
and is primarily realized through acquisitions and investment in R&D, but not through
capital expenditures. We show that traditional concentration ratios do not capture
this expansion of scope. Our findings point to a new type of firm that increases scope
through related expansion, which is highly valued by the market. Joint paper with Gerard Hoberg.