The Dynamics of Industrial Competition A North American Perspective

The Dynamics of Industrial Competition describes the internal dynamics of industries using new and unique longitudinal data that make it possible to track firms over time. It provides a comprehensive picture of a number of aspects of firm turnover in North America that arise from the competitive process - the entry and the exit of firms, the growth and the decline of incumbent firms, and the merger process. Instantaneous and cumulative measures of market dynamics are provided. Since the forces contributing to competition are varied and industries are affected by heterogeneous forces, different aspects of firm turnover are considered in order to provide a comprehensive overview of the competitive process. Entry is divided into that portion coming from the creation of new plants and that portion arising from the acquisition of existing firms. Differences are drawn between the effects of related and unrelated acquisitions and between the effects of take-overs made by domestic and foreign firms. Differences between large- and small-firm activity are also investigated. The effects of turnover on productivity, efficiency, wage rates, and profitability are extensively model led. Using various measures of firm turnover to proxy the amount of competition, the study examines and contextualizes the relationship between industry performance and the intensity of the competitive process.

The Dynamics of Industrial Competition, first published in 1995, describes the internal dynamics of industries using longitudinal data that make it possible to track firms over time. It provides a comprehensive picture of a number of different aspects of firm turnover in North America that arise from the competitive process - the entry and the exit of firms, the growth and decline of incumbent firms, and the merger process. Instantaneous and cumulative measures of market dynamics are provided by examining change in both the short and the long run. Using various measures of firm turnover to proxy the amount of competition, the study examines and contextualizes the relationship between industry performance and the intensity of the competitive process.

1. Introduction; 2. Firm turnover: Greenfield entry and closedown exit; 3. Entry: exit and the merger process; 4. The rise and fall of incumbent; 5. Patterns of large and small-firm mobility; 6. Plant turnover in Canada and the United States; 7. Measures of market structure and the intensity of competition; 8. The relationship between mobility and concentration; 9. Turnover and productivity growth; 10. Merger success; 11. Turnover in domestic and foreign enterprises; 12. Industry efficiency and firm turnover; 13. Firm turnover and profitability; 14. Modeling entry; 15. Conclusion; Appendix A. Measuring firm turnover - methodology; Appendix B. Definition of concentration and mobility measures; Notes; References; Author index; Subject index.

The Dynamics of Industrial Competition, first published in 1995, describes the internal dynamics of industries using new and unique longitudinal data that make it possible to track firms over time. It provides a comprehensive picture of a number of different aspects of firm turnover in North America that arise from the competitive process.