Determinants of Economies of Scale in Large Businesses—A Survey on UE Listed Firms

Abstract

This article aims at giving a contribution to the issue of the determinants of economies of scale in large businesses. After the economies of scale definition, the study identifies and analyzes the economies of cost that, according to most of the well-established literature, contribute jointly to originate the phenomenon at stake. Then, the study analyzes the information collected through specially created questionnaires from a sample of businesses listed on regulated European markets. The aim of the questionnaires is to verify if such companies obtain economies of scale in their productive processes and, if so, to identify which of the cost economies previously analyzed are actually achieved. Finally, the article analyzes data and information obtained through the questionnaires and draws some conclusions. Specifically, the study tries to overcome a one-way and sole interpretation of the economies of scale phenomenon in favour of distinction in economies of scale of II level (“in the strict sense”) and economies of scale of I level (“generic”).