The demography of entrepreneurs and enterprises

Industrial dynamics is increasingly studied from a demographic perspective. Demography of firms is one of the research methods to describe and analyse the evolution of industries. Although this is a very useful and promising interdisciplinary field of study, there are a number of conceptual problems when dealing with the formal demography of firms, and especially in the demographic component of firm start-ups. Fertility or parenthood is not clearly defined here, and occurrence-exposure rates or probabilities of giving birth to a firm are difficult to define. An alternative way of looking at the process of firm start-ups is to view the process as essentially driven by decisions of entrepreneurs within a labour market setting. A worker may decide to be an employee, to be self-employed or an entrepreneur. Although there is not a one-to-one correspondence between entrepreneurs and enterprises, the behaviour of more than 90 percent of firms can be studied from an individual entrepreneurial point of view. There is a large methodological advantage when taking the labour market point of view. Standard demographic tools may be used for describing, analysing and even conditional forecasting of the process. This paper shows how multidimensional demographic models may be used in describing and analysing the process of firm start-ups from an entrepreneurial perspective.

A multistate demographic model for firms in the province of Gelderland

In the last two decades researchers from various disciplines have made attempts to model and estimate developments in the size and structure of the population of firms. Although these attempts give useful insights into possible explanatory factors of firm dynamics, the explanatory value, and hence predictive power of these models is usually not very high. In this paper we follow a pure demographic approach for the modelling of firm survival. Important dimensions of the firm are firm age, firm size (in number of employees), economic activity and firm location. Using empirical firm level data for the region of Gelderland in the Netherlands over the period 1986-2002, developments in survival are described and analysed over time in an age-period-cohort perspective. In a later phase of the project, these (aggregated) scenarios will serve as a point of reference for comparisons to more extended model specifications using micro-simulation that include additional explanatory and spatial variables. Keywords: demography of the firm, Age-Period-Cohort model, firm survival, closures

SIMFIRMS - SIMULATING THE SPATIAL DEMOGRAPHY OF FIRMS, WITH AN APPLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS

Recently, there is an increasing demand in spatial planning for models based on the demographic concepts of birth and death of firms. This paper describes the structure of a spatial demographic simulation model of firms, and its application within the Netherlands. The model structure is essentially of the familiar demographic cohort component type, where an initial cohort of firms ages in a number of discrete steps, and where in each step additions and subtractions to and from the population are modelled using birth, death and migration components. Apart from the central processes of birth, death and migration, the type of economic activity and firm size are highly important for understanding firm behaviour over time. The paper describes the transition functions for each of the demographic components and for firm growth. In addition, some empirical results are presented of a number of model simulations in the Netherlands. The results were partly validated using observed economic demographic data. It is concluded that a substantial amount of work remains to be done in this new field. The model presented here has direct implications for the research agenda of the study of the demography of the firm.

Geographical scale and the role of firm migration in spatial economic dynamics

Spatial economic change can be decomposed in it's demographic constituents firm formation, closure, relocation and growth. This paper focusses on the role of relocation in the balancing equation of spatial economic dynamics: Total Change(zone i) = New firms(i)-Closures(i)+ Growth(i)-Decline(i)+ Inmoves(i)-Outmoves(i). Whereas the other components are scale invariant (i.e. a firm birth is a birth whether measured at the local or the regional level) for firm relocation the geographical scale is very important. The larger the size of the region, the smaller the number of border crossing relocations. The question about the role of firm migration in regional economic change can therefore only be answered taking into account the geographical scale. In this paper we will answer this question for various geographical scales. The data that we use are from the longitudinal business register of the province of Gelderland, in the east of the Netherlands, covering the period 1988-2002.

Kunst, Wissen und Zeugnis

In this paper we want to explore different epistemological benefits that we gain by dealing with some artworks, and our focus is on narrative arts. We claim that there is a sense in which narrative arts (e.g. literature, film and possibly even some expressions of visual art) can be similar to testimony, in that they provide information which can be epistemologically valuable for cognitive agents such as we are. We identify at least two broad categories of these epistemological benefits, the first one includes ‘facts stating’ and in that sense is parallel to the paradigmatic case of testimony in which what the testifier says can be a source of knowledge as mere acquisition of facts for his audience (this is the first case when we speak of artworks as ‘tellings’). This, however, is not the most peculiar and distinctive kind of epistemological benefits we can gain from art. The other one has to do with raising awareness, of deepening our understanding about some issues either by a specific, powerful and involving way of providing us facts (this is the second way in which we speak of artworks as ‘tellings’), or by presenting us the stance, the attitude, the opinion of the artist that can be enlightening, or challenging for us (in this case, we speak of ‘sayings’).U ovom radu želimo istražiti različite epistemološke koristi koje dobivamo putem nekih umjetničkih djela, pri čemu smo primarno usredotočeni na narativne umjetnosti. Tvrdimo da u određenom smislu, narativne umjetnosti (primjerice književnost, film a i neka djela vizualne umjetnosti) mogu biti slične svjedočanstvu, utoliko što pružaju informacije koje mogu biti epistemološki vrijedne za kognitivne djelatnike kakvi smo mi. Razlikujemo barem dvije šire kategorije tih epistemoloških vrijednosti, od kojih prva uključuje ‘navođenje činjenica’ i u tom je smislu pandan paradigmatskom slučaju svjedočanstva u kojem ono što informator govori može biti izvor znanja za publiku koja time naprosto dobiva činjenice (ovo je prvi slučaj, kada govorimo o umjetničkim djelima kao o ‘tellings’). Međutim, to nije najsvojstvenija i najznačajnija vrsta epistemoloških vrijednosti koje dobijemo iz umjetnosti. Druga kategorija tiče se povećavanja svijesti ili produbljivanja razumijevanja o nekom fenomenu, koji se može odvijati na dva načina: ili pružanjem činjenica na specifično snažan i prožimalački način (ovo je drugi smisao u kojem o umjetničkom djelu možemo govoriti kao o ‘tellings’), ili prezentiranjem stajališta, stava ili mišljenja umjetnika koji nam može biti prosvjetljujući ili pak predstavljati izazov našem stajalištu.Dans cet article, nous souhaitons étudier les différents avantages épistémologiques qu’on tire de certains ouvrages artistiques, en nous focalisant sur les arts narratifs. Nous affirmons que, dans un certain sens, les arts narratifs (ex. lettres, cinéma, mais aussi certaines formes d’expressions de l’art visuel) peuvent ressembler au témoignage, dans la mesure où ils fournissent des informations susceptibles d’être épistémologiquement précieuses aux acteurs cognitifs que nous sommes. Nous distinguons au moins deux catégories larges de ces avantages épistémologiques. La première comprend « l’énoncé des faits » et dans ce sens représente le pendant du cas paradigmatique de témoignage où, ce que le témoin dit, peut être source de connaissance pour le public qui de cette manière reçoit simplement les faits (il s’agit du premier cas, celui où nous parlons des ouvrages artistiques comme « tellings »). Cependant, cette sorte d’avantage épistémologique n’est pas la plus originale ou la plus pertinente qu’on puisse tirer de l’art. L’autre catégorie concerne l’accroissement de la conscience ou l’approfondissement de la compréhension de certains phénomènes, soit en rapportant les faits d’une façon spécifique, puissante et engageante (ceci est la deuxième façon dont nous considérons les ouvrages d’art comme « tellings »), soit en présentant la position, l’attitude ou l’opinion de l’artiste, qui puissent nous être révélateurs ou provocateurs.In diesem Paper möchten wir den unterschiedlichen epistemologischen Vorzügen auf den Grund gehen, die wir in der Arbeit mit einigen Kunstwerken erlangen, wobei unser Schwerpunkt in der narrativen Kunst liegt. Wir behaupten, die narrativen Künste (z. B. Literatur, Film und möglicherweise überdies einzelne Ausdrücke der visuellen Kunst) könnten in gewissem Sinne dem Zeugnis ähneln, insofern sie Informationen besorgten, die epistemologisch wertvoll für kognitive Agenten wie uns seien. Wir identifizieren zumindest zwei breite Kategorien dieser epistemologischen Vorzüge, die Erste schließt „Tatsachenangaben“ ein und ist in diesem Sinne vergleichbar mit dem paradigmatischen Fall des Zeugnisses, wo die Aussagen des Zeugen als Wissensquelle, als bloße Faktenaneignung für sein Publikum zu dienen vermögen (dies repräsentiert den ersten Fall, welcher von den Kunstwerken als den „Tellings“ handelt). Dies dagegen ist nicht die eigenartigste und distinktivste Art der epistemologischen Werte, die uns die Kunst verschafft. Die andere hat es mit der Bewusstseinssteigerung sowie Verständnisvertiefung bezüglich gewisser Fragestellungen zu tun, entweder durch spezifische, kraftvolle und involvierende Art der Tatsachenvermittlung (dies repräsentiert den zweiten Fall, wo die Rede von den Kunstwerken als den „Tellings“ ist), oder eben durch die Präsentierung der Haltung, Einstellung oder Ansicht des Künstlers, welche sich für uns als erhellend oder herausfordernd herausschälen könnten (diesfalls reden wir von den „Sayings“)

A model of internal firm relocation in the Netherlands

This paper presents a model of internal relocation of firms in the Netherlands. Firm relocation is driven both by firm internal factors, such as growth, age, and type of activity, as well as external factors, relating to the business cycle, the geographical environment, the composition of the labour force, and the composition of the firm popuation, as well as linkages with other firms. Using a unique longitudinal database of firms in the Province of Gelderland in the Netherlands, we specify and estimate two related models of firm relocation. The decomposition of the migration process in two subprocesses is consitent with the theory of a two stage decision process, whereby in th first stage the firm decides to move, and in the second step it chooses an alternative destination. Different factors are important in both stages of the process.

Explaining new trends in the gender gap of mortality: Insights from a regional trend- analysis of the Netherlands

The recent decrease of the male-female mortality gap in Western Europe has been accompanied by changes in the life style, educational level, family roles and employment of women. In this paper we try to find out whether a relationship indeed exists between the increase in gender equality and the decrease in the male/female mortality difference. We used regional-level data for the Netherlands for the periods 1980-83 and 1996-99 on gender differences in life expectancy, by age group and cause of death, and various measures of gender inequality on the same regional level. In doing this we followed as far as possible a framework recently developed by Ingrid Waldron to analyse changes in gender differences in mortality in the US. The cross-sectional analyses showed that in 1980-83 it was rather socioeconomic than gender role variables that were important in explaining gender difference in mortality, while in the period 1996-99, it was the other way around.

Firm relocation: state of the art and research prospects

This paper deals with firm relocation. Firm relocation is a particular form of locational adjustment of the firm and one of the possible ways to adjust to changes in markets, preferences of consumers, environmental regulations, technological progress etc. In section 2 we will treat the neo-classical, the behavioural, and the institutional approaches respectively. Next, a historical review of firm relocation research is presented, in section 3. It starts with the "classical studies" of the first post-war period, followed by a description of what can be called the golden era of firm relocation studies according to the large number of studies: the nineteen sixties and seventies. This section ends with an overview of firm relocation studies of the last decades of the previous century. In section 4 we present an example an empirical study that addresses relevant firm relocation for the present era by means of a statistical model estimated on data for individual firms of the Netherlands. We conclude the chapter with a discussion of why and how the firm relocation research frontier can be pushed forward and give suggestions for further research also in relation with policy.

Centrifugal separation for cleaning well gas streams : from concept to prototype

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