Writer Beat blog:
Why small isn?t always beautiful: labor regulations and firm growth
20 September 2017
Article by John Van Reenen
What are the costs and benefits of regulation? Most countries treat smaller firms more generously when it comes to business regulation, exempting them from some of the burdens on larger firms. This research uses this institutional feature to show how the overall costs of regulation can be calculated from observing companies’ response to this “tax on firm size”.
Related publications
‘Firm Size Distortions and the Productivity Distribution: Evidence from France’, Luis Garicano, Claire Lelarge and John Van Reenen, American Economic Review 106(11) 3439-79, November 2016
https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20130232