The determinants of new firm formation dynamics

Explaining uneven economic growth and development within a country or a state or even within a metropolitan area has drawn attention of many scholars as well as public officials around the world. Most of the theories proposed so far have not been able to explain clearly the processes that underlie economic development and growth, making them unsuitable for policy actions. Regional planners and government officials are more interested in identifying factors that drive economic growth and development at the local or regional level. This paper explores regional factors as determinants of new firm formations (hereafter, NF2) that are central to the phenomenon of economic growth and development. Specifically, it explores regional factors as determinants of NF2 for the Texas manufacturing sector for the 1976-91 period. All twenty-seven (27) Texas metropolitan areas have been used to account for the variation in NF2 over time and space. The results are of practical importance to policy makers, economists, and would be entrepreneurs alike. In the absence of specific theories of new firm formations, this study draws on neoclassical theory as well as ideas of Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall, and Joseph Schumpeter. A historical evaluation of entrepreneurs and associated entrepreneurial innovations is carried out to better understand the role of entrepreneurship in influencing economic development and growth in the present context. Empirical studies of new firm formations, though mostly from European countries, have been reviewed to get a first hand look at current status of research in the area. The problem of appropriate data with which one can measure the key processes undergirding economic dynamism and change is explained in detail. In this context, relative superiority of the data set used in this study to the data sets used in most of the previous empirical studies is explained in greater depth. Using Hicks' micro-level data on establishment entries and exits, this study develops pooled time-series data on entries and exits of firms collected over a period of 16 years (1976-91) using sales tax files for the manufacturing sector. The issues of: (1) the treatment of missing data, (2) the selection of referents for regional and time dummy variables, and (3) violations and remedies of OLS assumptions (heteroscedasticity, multicollinearity, and serial correlation) are addressed to maximize the reliability of regression models developed for further analysis. Fixed-effects regression models with region and time as dummy variables have been formulated to control for region-specific and time-specific influences, respectively. The fixed-effects models are estimated using two different regression estimation techniques, robust regression and estimated weighted least squares. Time-series analyses is employed to test for ten hypotheses proposed, one for each variable included in the model. All regression results are found to be consistent with their respective hypothesis. Robust regression model results indicated a positive and independent influence of mean establishment size, entry rate, exit rate, and per capita bank deposits on NF2; whereas change in unemployment rate indicated a negative influence on NF2. The empirical findings provide strong support for the role of deep churning - turnover and replacement in a business base - in understanding the forces shaping economic development and growth. Moreover, the findings provide a counterpoint to neoclassical theory by suggesting a symbiotic, rather than an adversarial, relationship between small and large firms.

Global tropospheric chemistry: Chemical fluexes in the global atmosphere

In October 1987, NSF, NASA, and NOAA jointly sponsored a workshop at Columbia University to assess the experimental tools and analysis procedures in use and under development to measure and understand gas and particle fluxes across this critical air-surface boundary. Results are presented for that workshop. It is published to summarize the present understanding of the various measurement techniques that are available, identify promising new technological developments for improved measurements, and stimulate thinking about this important measurement challenge

Revitalizing our Cities or Restoring Ties to Them? Redirecting the Debate

In this Article, I generally concur that certain legal reforms do hold considerable potential for ameliorating some of the desperate circumstances we find in our cities today. My view is rooted in the recognition that past reforms which dismantled legal barriers to equal opportunity were of monumental significance in broadening social and economic access to our urban arrangements. But it also is rooted in the conviction that a new wave of legal reform might well be required in order to reconsider other past reforms that, however unintentionally, have made many matters worse. Above all, any proposed legal reform should be decoupled from the notion that achieving broad social gains requires that we must somehow first restore a general vitality to our cities. I suggest that our cities continue to show remarkable vitality. Instead, what does need revitalization are the prospects that individuals who were left behind by a transforming economy or held back by personal circumstances wherever they may live-can have greater access to the opportunities which our evolving economic and settlement arrangements offer-wherever they may be

The determinants of new firm formation dynamics

Explaining uneven economic growth and development within a country or a state or even within a metropolitan area has drawn attention of many scholars as well as public officials around the world. Most of the theories proposed so far have not been able to explain clearly the processes that underlie economic development and growth, making them unsuitable for policy actions. Regional planners and government officials are more interested in identifying factors that drive economic growth and development at the local or regional level. This paper explores regional factors as determinants of new firm formations (hereafter, NF2) that are central to the phenomenon of economic growth and development. Specifically, it explores regional factors as determinants of NF2 for the Texas manufacturing sector for the 1976-91 period. All twenty-seven (27) Texas metropolitan areas have been used to account for the variation in NF2 over time and space. The results are of practical importance to policy makers, economists, and would be entrepreneurs alike. In the absence of specific theories of new firm formations, this study draws on neoclassical theory as well as ideas of Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall, and Joseph Schumpeter. A historical evaluation of entrepreneurs and associated entrepreneurial innovations is carried out to better understand the role of entrepreneurship in influencing economic development and growth in the present context. Empirical studies of new firm formations, though mostly from European countries, have been reviewed to get a first hand look at current status of research in the area. The problem of appropriate data with which one can measure the key processes undergirding economic dynamism and change is explained in detail. In this context, relative superiority of the data set used in this study to the data sets used in most of the previous empirical studies is explained in greater depth. Using Hicks' micro-level data on establishment entries and exits, this study develops pooled time-series data on entries and exits of firms collected over a period of 16 years (1976-91) using sales tax files for the manufacturing sector. The issues of: (1) the treatment of missing data, (2) the selection of referents for regional and time dummy variables, and (3) violations and remedies of OLS assumptions (heteroscedasticity, multicollinearity, and serial correlation) are addressed to maximize the reliability of regression models developed for further analysis. Fixed-effects regression models with region and time as dummy variables have been formulated to control for region-specific and time-specific influences, respectively. The fixed-effects models are estimated using two different regression estimation techniques, robust regression and estimated weighted least squares. Time-series analyses is employed to test for ten hypotheses proposed, one for each variable included in the model. All regression results are found to be consistent with their respective hypothesis. Robust regression model results indicated a positive and independent influence of mean establishment size, entry rate, exit rate, and per capita bank deposits on NF2; whereas change in unemployment rate indicated a negative influence on NF2. The empirical findings provide strong support for the role of deep churning - turnover and replacement in a business base - in understanding the forces shaping economic development and growth. Moreover, the findings provide a counterpoint to neoclassical theory by suggesting a symbiotic, rather than an adversarial, relationship between small and large firms

Schumpeterian Churn Dynamics And Re-gional Productivity Performance

This study tests empirically the Schumpeterian premise that the incessantturbulence of an economy in motion, apart from a production function comprised of static inputs, is capable of explaining patterns of economic growth and change. Localized employment churn"registered as job creation/destruction dynamics isused to account forvariations in U.S. metro-regional economic productivity performancesduring the 1986-99 period. The empirical results suggest that employment turnover and replacementdynamics have large and significant positive effects on localized productivity growth independent of a variety of industrial restructuring processes occurring simultaneously. While employment churn effectsare robust across U.S. Census regions, they do not exert a uniform influence on metro-regional productivity performances across time. Until 1996, job creation and destruction dynamics often canceled each other out as metro-regions underwent continued industrial restructuring. Since 1996, however, the positive effects on metro-region productivity growth have been consistently strong. In addition toa strong positiveeffect on productivity of the emergence of a localized IT sector, both an expanding service sector share of regional employment and a rising public spending share of regional outputexert powerful downward pressure on productivity growth rates

User Defined Accounting Model

At the heart of the free market system is the ability of the “Market” to determine what goods and services need to be produced and the appropriate allocation of resources to produce them in the most efficient and effective manner.  Many believe that the current financial reporting model has not facilitated the achievement of this goal as fully as possible.  A few ruling bodies have determined what information that is reported to investors and perhaps it is time to change this model and allow the market (individual users) to determine what financial information is most appropriate for investors, creditors and other external decision makers.  With the improvements in technology, society may be able to create a User Defined Accounting Model (UDAM) that will allow investors to make better informed decisions in a timelier manner.  The current financial reporting model, GAAP, requires companies to report information in one format which contains highly aggregated information that does not adequately address the predictive value of the information.  Some users may believe that market value or replacement cost may be a more useful measure of the company's future value than historical cost.  The current system aggregates the information at the firm level using primarily historical cost and then only forwards the results of this aggregation to users.  An improvement would be to allow users to determine which measure they would like to employ.  This paper proposes a model that allows users to access the primary measures instead of obtaining only aggregated, secondary data, and to compile financial statements in any format they desire

Investigation of Furniture Design as an Evolutionary Process

Housing and Interior Desig

A Study of the Conflicts within Churches that Lead to the Termination of Pastors within the Southern Baptist Convention, Accompanied by a Proposal of Preventive and Interventional Solutions

Since 1984, LifeWay of the Southern Baptist Convention has collected data through the Pastoral Ministries division of LifeWay from state conventions to determine how many pastors were being fired each year from their churches. They discovered that approximately two hundred pastors were being fired from their churches each month. Leader Care was formed in 1996 in order to find solutions to this problem. Throughout the last decade some progress has been made educating and helping churches and ministers in conflict, as well as ministers and their families who were terminated from the churches they served. In 2008, LifeWay disbanded LeaderCare, thereby ceasing support to pastors and their families currently experiencing personal and professional crisis. This project will be a study of the conflicts within churches that lead to the termination of pastors within the Southern Baptist Convention, accompanied by a proposal of preventive and interventional solutions

Proposal to study the k+- charge exchange reactions at high energies

An experiment is proposed for measurement of the K{sup {+-}} {yields} K-Long charge-exchange reactions using unseparated beams; useful rates are obtained for p{sub inc}{le}100 GeV/c and -t {le} 1 (GeV/c){sup 2}. A V-spectrometer with resolution {+-}1% is used downstream of the target for detection of the decays K-long {yields} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}. Using hydrogen and deuterium targets, the detection system is designed to measure: (1) d{sigma}/dt for K{sup -}p {yields} {bar K}{sup 0}n. The reaction will be distinguished from background processes involving N* and K* production by kinematics and supplementary detectors surrounding the target. (2) d{sup 2}{sigma}/dpdt for K{sup -}d {yields} {bar K}{sup 0}nn. This final state will be distinguished from those involving production of {pi}{sup 0}'s or charged particles primarily by the supplementary target veto array. Use of a deuterium target will provide partial clarification of the problems to be encountered in achieving part 3. In principle, some information on the relative sizes of the spin-flip and non-spin-flip amplitudes will be obtained. (3) d{sup 2}{sigma}/dpdt for K{sup +}d {yields} K{sup 0}pp. Since charged particles are produced at the interaction vortex, this final state can be reliably extracted only with the insight gained in parts (1) and (2) and a detailed study of the distributions in the target veto counter array