The Old and the Stubborn? Firm Characteristics and Relocation in the Netherlands (original) (raw)
Where and why do firms choose to move? Empirical evidence from Norway
Journal of Transport and Land Use
A key goal for many public policies is to increase the competitiveness of local industries and make areas more attractive for firm location and development. However, little is known about firm relocations even though they are of crucial importance in understanding economic development within a region and the effectiveness of the policies proposed. This paper contributes to filling this gap by looking further into the firm relocation process by estimating models for the decision to relocate and to where. The studied area consists of four counties on the western coast of Norway that generate about half of Norway’s traditional exports. Changes in firm relocations for approximately 16,500 firms within this study area are analyzed. In addition, interviews with firms that relocated are also carried out to support the findings from the model. The results indicate that the decision to relocate is influenced by a firm’s internal and external characteristics such as agglomeration. The results...
Firm migration in the Netherlands
2005
The paper surveys what is known from various data sources about the process of firm migration in the Netherlands. The availability and quality of data sources concerning firm migration are discussed, just as the development of firm migration processes in the past decades, and the impact of firm migrations on regional economic structures and regional employment. This impact is then compared with the impact of other firm demographic components, i.e. new firm establishments, and firm closures. Then the regional patterns of firm migration are shown – to the extent that the data sources allow - with a focus on the movements in and out of the national economic core region (the Randstad). Especially for the sector of manufacturing industry we witness a gradual change, from a clear-cut core-periphery deconcentration pattern in the past to a more erratic pattern at present. This is related to a gradual change in the main migration motives, from labour market shortages to lack of space and a...
Locational Behaviour of Young Firms: A Life Course Perspective
2000
There has been a remarkable rise in both the number of new firms and in the economic significance of new firms in virtually all advanced economies during the past two decades. These new firms are said to be more locally embedded and thus less inclined to leave their home region. New firms are therefore seen as more secure providers of durable development of regional economies than branch plants. This paper examines the locational behaviour of young firms, that is the start-up location and subsequent relocation(s) of young firms. A life course perspective will be used to explain the locational behaviour of young firms. The focus will be on the role of personal (noneconomic) and business economic factors that induce or constrain the locational behaviour of young firms.
Locations and Relocations: Modelling, Determinants, and Interrelations
2006
Empirical studies on industrial location do not typically distinguish between new and relocated establishments. This paper addresses this shortcoming using data on the frequency of these events in municipalities of the same economic-administrative region. This enables us to test not only for differences in their determinants but also for interrelations between start-ups and relocations.
THE ROLE OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD FOR FIRM RELOCATION
Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 2012
The residential neighbourhood has become more important as a business environment as a result of economic and societal developments. However, some neighbourhoods are characterised by relatively high out-migration of firms; disadvantaged neighbourhoods in particular. This suggests that there may be factors at the neighbourhood level that steer relocation behaviour of local entrepreneurs. In this paper, we investigate how entrepreneurs valuate location aspects, including social and physical characteristics of the neighbourhood, and how this valuation relates to planned or actual firm relocation. The results show that the neighbourhood plays only a modest role for 'being a (potentially) mobile firm'. Rather, relocation (propensity) results from growth ambition, and the most important reasons for both relocation and staying put are therefore the size and quality of the business premises itself or personal housing preferences. Policy aiming at retaining entrepreneurs in neighbourhoods is most successful if targeted at the supply of appropriate business space.
Ersa Conference Papers, 1999
Analysis of employment trends in several countries suggests that significant employment creation takes place in relatively few small but fast-growing firms. The emergence of these fast-growing firms might even be a more significant source of uneven regional development than the rate of new firm formation in general. The objective of this paper is to describe and analyse the location of fast-growing young firms in the Netherlands. First, the sectoral pattern of fast-growing young firms in the Netherlands will be described. Second, the spatial pattern will be described in a regional distribution. The spatial pattern of fast-growing young firms will be compared with regional start-up rates for example. Third, the spatial pattern of fast-growing young firms in specific sectors will be described. Finally, in explaining these patterns, some suggestions for further research will be given.
Localization effects of firm startups and closures in the Netherlands
The Annals of Regional Science, 2004
In this article localization trends as a result of startups and closures are investigated in the Netherlands, using a distance-based approach. A major advantage of this method is that it does not suffer from aggregation bias that is inherent in area-based methods. This method controls for the existing spatial clustering of the industry. Plant openings and closures can either reinforce or weaken the existing localization pattern. We studied these localization tendencies for industries at the one-digit level. The major finding is that plant closures have a strong deconcentration effect, at the local as well as the regional level. Startups have a concentration effect at smaller spatial scales, but beyond 18 km this component also contributes to deconcentration. This result is in line with the spatial process of sprawl for most economic activities. However, results are different for economic sectors, and manufacturing clearly deviates from this general pattern, because it shows a localization trend except at the very small spatial level. Based on these results we do not find much support, except in the manufacturing industry, that industry dynamics in terms of new firm formation and closures, leads to stronger spatial agglomeration tendencies in the Netherlands.
Related theme: Regional and Urban economy - Industrial Location
2000
There has been a remarkable rise in both the number of new firms and in the economic significance of new firms in virtually all advanced economies during the past two decades. These new firms are said to be more locally embedded and thus less inclined to leave their home region. New firms are therefore seen as more secure providers of durable development of regional economies than branch plants. This paper examines the locational behaviour of young firms, that is the start-up location and subsequent relocation(s) of young firms. A life course perspective will be used to explain the locational behaviour of young firms. The focus will be on the role of personal (noneconomic) and business economic factors that induce or constrain the locational behaviour of young firms.
The Location of New Firms and the Life Cycle of Industries
Small Business Economics, 2000
Why does the location of new firms differ according to the characteristics of the industry? Is there a relation between a technologically dense base of firms and the urban environment in which they appear? Does the autonomy of new firms when deciding their location differ according to the characteristics of the industrial sector and the size of the firm? This paper approaches these questions in Spanish manufacturing sectors between the years 1980 and 1994. The results obtained indicate that decisions on location differ according to the technological density of the industries and their life cycle.