Reference no: EM131098337

From 1970 to 1983, corporations expanded impressively in number, receipts, and assets. In numbers and receipts, at least, the picture is dominated by firms with assets no more than one million dollars. Such firms doubled in number over the thirteen year period, accounting for more than 99 percent of the increase in all corporations; in 1983, they were over 91 percent of the total. And in sales, the proportion of corporations with less than one million dollars increased from three out of four to five out of six. Large corporations are not disappearing dinosaurs. Indeed, the share of all corporate assets held by those firms with more than $250 million in assets increased somewhat from 1970 to 1983. But the wave of the future may not be characterized so conspicuously by “bigness.” Liquidity and mobility of resources may be more important that economies of scale in manufacturing. We cannot know the future. We best shape the future not with concrete five-year plans of centralized direction, but by general fostering of economic opportunity. One manifestation of economic health is the vigorous formation of small firms. If the proportion of output produced by large firms increased, would it make a difference in analyzing the consequences whether that resulted from more small firms growing to become large forms or from the same large firms increasing their share of total output?