Zipf and the size distribution of firms
Hart, P. E. & Oulton, N.
(1997).
Zipf and the size distribution of firms.
Applied Economics Letters,
4(4), 205-206.
https://doi.org/10.1080/758518494
(1997).
Zipf and the size distribution of firms.
Applied Economics Letters,
4(4), 205-206.
https://doi.org/10.1080/758518494
Based on a sample of 50 441 independent UK companies of all sizes covering all sectors of the UK economy, the size distribution of companies is close to lognormal, even though the hypothesis of lognormality can be rejected statistically. A Zipf plot shows that the Pareto distribution is a poor fit to the upper 5% tail.