Dispersion and Heterogeneity of Firm Performances in Nine French Service Industries, 1984-1987 / Elizabeth Kremp, Jacques Mairesse.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kremp, Elizabeth.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Mairesse, Jacques.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w3665.

NBER working paper series no. w3665

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dispersion.

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1991.

Cambridge, Mass. : National Bureau of Economic Research, 1991.

Summary:

In the present study, we have taken advantage of the wealth of information provided by the French annual survey of market services to construct a panel sample of data on about 2300 large firms, from 1984 to 1987, in nine selected service industries (at the four digit level of the industrial classification) . We have contrasted the average performances of firms across industries, in terms of labor productivity ratios and profitability margins, both in levels and in growth rates. We have compared these averages indicators for more or less inclusive sample definitions, going from the survey of all firms to a 'balanced' and "cleaned' panel data sample of large firms, and for the two kinds of averages usually considered in macro and micro-analyses. We, then proceeded to show that the differences across industries in average productivity and profitability are usually small when compared to the range of individual differences within industries, and have investigated to what extent the extreme variability in individual performances could be accounted for by other heterogeneity factors, besides the industry effects.

Notes:

Print version record

March 1991.

Includes bibliographical references.