Non-continuous growth of firms: some empirical evidence from Italian manufacturing industry

Firms change their size through a row of discrete leaps. A basic model allowing for discontinuous growth can be based on several assumptions that entail testable consequences: profitability is not a continuous function of the firms' size, but exhibits peaks, each corresponding to a locally optimal size. The model has been tested by using a panel of Italian manufacturing firms. Both the non-parametric analysis and a panel estimation confirm the presence of 'peaks' in the distribution of profitability by size.