ABSTRACT
The Statistics o f Income for corporations does not compile cor porate figures by a specified number of corporations, but by all corpo rations with assets over an arbitrary figure. For successive years, the number of big corporations grouped together varies, so that it is difficult to trace changing concentration from the figures. Fortunately, the number of big corporations grouped together in 1950 and in 1965 is almost identical. In 1950, all corporations with assets over $100 million were compiled, giving 360 big non-financial corporations. In 1965, all corporations with $250 million assets were compiled, giving 367 big non-financial corporations. By adding seven corporations, as sumed to have $90 million assets each to the 1950 list, the total number for each year can be made the same and no significant error is intro duced. The results of such a comparison are given in Table V, with similar comparisons for manufacturing, public utilities (including transport), and trade. They show a marked increase in concentration. Of course, the degree of consolidation of balance sheets might have changed significantly in the 15-year period, but this seems unlikely. Apart from this possibility, the increase in concentration would seem to be established for the period, not only for non-financial corporations taken as a whole, but also for each of the three sub-groups.
