WP 22-07 – Larger firms (by sales or employment) have higher leverage. This pattern is explained using a model in which firms produce multiple varieties, acquire new varieties from their inventors, and borrow against the future cash flow of the firm with the option to default.
Supersedes Working Paper 20-29/R – The Firm Size-Leverage Relationship and Its Implications for Entry and Business Concentration
A variety can die with a constant probability, implying that firms with more varieties (bigger firms) have a lower variance of sales growth and, in equilibrium, higher leverage. In this setup, a drop in the risk-free rate increases the value of an acquisition more for bigger firms because of their higher leverage: They can (and do) borrow a larger fraction of their future cash flow. The drop causes existing firms to buy more of the new varieties arriving into the economy, resulting in a lower startup rate and greater concentration of sales.
