Growth, Acquisition and Investment: An Analysis of the Growth of Industrial Firms and Their Overseas Activities

Economic analysis has focused increasingly on the forces governing the growth and performance of firms in capitalist countries. This book presents the results of an empirical investigation into some aspects of firm growth which have either been relatively neglected or about which there is no recent evidence. Four aspects are examined in detail: the relationship between size, growth and profitability; the degree of trade-off between growth by acquisition and growth by new investment; the role of different forms of financing; and the implications of external markets and overseas production for firms’ performance. These issues are important for understanding both firms, growth and the industrial and competition policies pursued in the UK and other capitalist countries recently. The results are based on the most comprehensive recent data on industrial companies in the UK or, indeed, in any other advanced country.