Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

HUI Working Papers,
HUI Research

No 104: Firm growth in the Swedish energy sector: Will large firms become even more dominant?

Zuzana Macuchova, Niklas Rudholm () and Aili Tang
Additional contact information
Zuzana Macuchova: Dalarna University, Postal: SE-791 88 Falun, Sweden
Niklas Rudholm: HUI Research, Postal: SE-103 29 Stockholm, Sweden and Dalarna University, SE-791 88 Falun, Sweden
Aili Tang: Dalarna University, Postal: SE-791 88 Falun, Sweden

Abstract: This paper examines the determinants of firm growth in the Swedish energy sector using a sample of 200 energy firms active from 2000 to 2010. The article has two aims. First, we want to investigate whether there is reason to believe that the Swedish energy market will become more concentrated in the future, dominated by just a few firms. That would be the result if, for example, large firms systematically and over time grew faster than did smaller firms in the Swedish market. Second, we want to investigate whether firm growth can mainly be explained by firm-specific variables, supporting Penrose’s (1959) suggestion that internal resources are the key determinants of firm growth rates. To this end, quantile regression is used in addition to ordinary least squares regression, to provide a more complete estimation of the growth distribution of firms conditional on different attributes. The results indicate that large firms do not grow faster than do other firms in the sector, and that energy firms’ internal resources are indeed the key determinants of firm growth in the Swedish energy industry.

Keywords: Market power; energy market regulation; energy market competition; quantile regression; competition policy

JEL-codes: L11; L25; L26; L94

23 pages, May 15, 2014

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