Dispersion in firm‐level growth rates rises during recessions. To date, this has been explained through mechanisms on the firms' side of the economy. In this paper, I show that countercyclical dispersion can arise from changes on the demand side of the economy. Using retail data I find that during recessions demand elasticity rises, the dispersion of firms' growth rates increases, and this increase is larger in markets where the change in consumer behavior is the strongest. I develop a business cycle model with heterogeneous firms and frictions in product markets that highlights the relationship between consumer behavior and firm volatility.

中文翻译：

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消费者行为与企业波动

在经济衰退期间，企业水平增长率的离散性会上升。迄今为止，已经通过企业经济方面的机制对此进行了解释。在本文中，我证明了经济需求侧的变化会引起反周期分散。使用零售数据，我发现在经济衰退期间，需求弹性增加，企业增长率的分散性增加，而在消费者行为变化最强烈的市场中，这种增长更大。我用异类公司和产品市场的摩擦开发了一个商业周期模型，该模型突出了消费者行为与公司波动之间的关系。