Firm size, volatility and labor market thickness

In this thesis, I investigate the relationship between labor market thickness and volatility of sales. Marshall suggests that thick markets occur since industrial organization increases productivity. In Principles of Economics (1890), Marshall explains how economic concentration positively effects productivity, growth, innovation and exposure to shocks. Using a firm-level panel data for 18 countries, I test a new dimension of firm effectiveness, namely sales volatility, and relate it to industry and/or overall economic concentration. In the results of tests, I find that there is a negative relationship between the volatility of sales and both employment level and the share of employment in a region, separately. For the firms which are in same sector, in a given region, as the share of the firms' employment in that region decreases; volatility increases for that firms.