<p>These guys <a href="http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0219525904000160" rel="nofollow">(paper)</a> claim the distribution is still power-law, but steeper in recessions and flatter in booms.</p>

<p>[Content added after suggestion]</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>While it is well known that the distribution of firm sizes (in the US
  at least) looks like a power law distribution, these guys look at
  whether it changes in shape over the business cycle.</p>
  
  <p>They show that (in log-log space) the distribution is actually a power
  law in both recessions and expansions, but its not the same power law,
  its steeper in recessions and flatter in booms, meaning that large
  firms become relatively larger in booms than in recessions, or
  alternatively that there is  a lot of entry of small firms in booms.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-14T06:08:01.847Z
This is a link only answer. Please copy the gist of the relevant information from the paper you linked.
Giskard
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-13T14:15:46.137Z
2016-05-16T17:29:45.690Z
2016-05-16T17:29:45.690Z
Fix.B.
<p>There has been a lot of evidence about the firm size distribution (as measured in employment) being Pareto (see for example <a href="http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/122/3/1103.full.pdf" rel="nofollow">Luttmer 2007</a>), but what are the properties of this distribution over the business cycle? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-06T23:20:32.337Z
So, Luttmer describes some static distribution of firm size and you want to know if there is any data on how this distribution changes over time?
jmbejara
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-06T23:42:29.487Z
@jmbejara Exactly.
FooBar
<macroeconomics><industrial-organisation><academic-graduate><business-cycles><reference-request>
Firm Sizes over the business cycle
FooBar
# Firm Sizes over the business cycle

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-02-06)

There has been a lot of evidence about the firm size distribution (as measured in employment) being Pareto (see for example [Luttmer 2007](http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/122/3/1103.full.pdf)), but what are the properties of this distribution over the business cycle?

**Tags:** macroeconomics, industrial-organisation, academic-graduate, business-cycles, reference-request

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: So, Luttmer describes some static distribution of firm size and you want to know if there is any data on how this distribution changes over time?  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Exactly.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-05-13. Score: 3

These guys [(paper)](http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0219525904000160) claim the distribution is still power-law, but steeper in recessions and flatter in booms.

[Content added after suggestion]

> While it is well known that the distribution of firm sizes (in the US
> at least) looks like a power law distribution, these guys look at
> whether it changes in shape over the business cycle.
>
> They show that (in log-log space) the distribution is actually a power
> law in both recessions and expansions, but its not the same power law,
> its steeper in recessions and flatter in booms, meaning that large
> firms become relatively larger in booms than in recessions, or
> alternatively that there is a lot of entry of small firms in booms.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: This is a link only answer. Please copy the gist of the relevant information from the paper you linked.  

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