The Firm Size Distribution: Evidence from Belgium

The shape of the firm size distribution (FSD) looks similar in all market economies but its approximation by a parametric distribution, a necessary information to build a general model of firm dynamics, remains much debated. In this paper, we use an exclusive comprehensive database on Belgian firms. We show that the lognormal distribution is a better approximation of the empirical FSD than the power law distribution. This result holds true at the aggregate, sectoral and regional levels.