A model for the growth dynamics of economic organizations

We apply methods and concepts of statistical physics to the study of econom ic organizations. We identify robust, universal, characteristics of the tim e evolution of economic organizations. Specifically, we find the existence of scaling laws describing the growth of the size of these organizations. W e study a model assuming a complex evolving internal structure of an organi zation that is able to reproduce many of the empirical findings. (C) 2001 E lsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.