Based on the empirical firm growth literature and on heterogeneous (microeconomic) adjustment models, this paper empirically
investigates the impact of European industry fluctuations and domestic business cycles on the growth performance of European
firms. Since the implementation of the Single Market program the EU 27 member countries share a common market. Accordingly,
the European industry business cycle is expected to become a more influential predictor of European firms' behaviour at the
expense of domestic fluctuations. Empirically, the results of a two-part model for a sample of European manufacturing firms
reject this hypothesis. Additionally, subsidiaries of multinational enterprises constitute the most stable firm cohort throughout
the observed business cycle.
Keywords:Firm growth, industry dynamics, domestic business cycle, European integration, multinational enterprises, two-part model
Forschungsbereich:Industrie-, Innovations- und internationale Ökonomie