Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice 2026

Acquisitive and Organic Growth in Penrose’s Theory: A Replication and Extension of Lockett, Wiklund, Davidsson, Girma (2011)

Alessandro Lucini-Paioni¹; Panos Desyllas²; Orietta Marsili³; Elena Cefis^4,5

¹ Politecnico di Milano · ² University of Bath · ³ University of Bristol · ⁴ University of Bergamo · ⁵ Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna

Abstract

We replicate Lockett, Wiklund, Davidsson, and Girma’s (LWDG) (2011) study, which draws on Penrose’s theory to explicate how organic and acquisitive growth interact, using data from 128,368 Dutch firms (2011–2016). Our results confirm LWDG’s finding that past organic growth negatively affects subsequent organic growth. However, unlike LWDG, reporting a positive association, we find that past acquisitive growth reduces subsequent organic growth. Extending LWDG’s framework reveals that this effect turns positive over time, particularly for complementary acquisitions. While our findings align with Penrose’s theory, they also provide a more nuanced understanding of the conditions under which acquisitive growth enhances organic growth.

DOI

10.1177/10422587261435937

Sources

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APA 7 MLA 9 Chicago (author–date) Harvard Elsevier Harvard (JFE, JBF…) The Accounting Review Academy of Management American Marketing Association INFORMS (Management Science) Copy citation Copied ✓