Date of Award

1-1-2011

Document Type

Campus Access Thesis

Department

Moore School of Business

Sub-Department

Economics

First Advisor

Douglas Woodward

Second Advisor

Paulo Guimaraes

Abstract

This thesis evaluates the impact economic characteristics, including regional agglomeration and establishment concentration among other variables, have on the survivability of new establishments. Using the National Establishment Time Series database for South Carolina, we analyze all establishments in industries from 1990 to 2009. We find there is a positive relationship between cluster strength and survival rates of establishments. These results vary slightly between county-level industry concentration and the narrower zip code levels. We also find evidence of a non-monotonic relation between agglomeration (industry cluster) strength and establishment survival, suggesting a positive impact on survival until congestion becomes an overwhelming factor.

Rights

© 2011, William Patrick Smith

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