Varying Heterogeneity among U.S. Firms: Facts and Implications
研究发现美国企业股票收益波动率在1971-2000年间上升五倍，随后回落至接近1971年水平，主要由企业特定波动驱动；全要素生产率波动呈现类似模式，且信息技术资本强度衡量的通用目的技术采用能解释这一现象。
U.S. firms' stock return volatility rose fivefold from 1971 through 2000 and then reverted to near 1971 levels by 2006. This was driven mainly by a rise and fall in the firm-specific, rather than systematic, component of volatility. Firm-level total factor productivity growth volatility exhibited a similar pattern. We hypothesize that firm heterogeneity, reflected in firm-specific volatility, rises as a new general purpose technology (GPT) propagates across the economy and then ebbs once the GPT is widespread. Measuring GPT adoption by information technology capital intensity, we find robust cross-industry empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis. © 2011 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.