The industry component of regional new firm formation processes

We demonstrate that the link between geographic specific factors and the pr opensity for entrepreneurs to start new firms varies from industry to indus try. Linking regional startup rates in Germany during the late 1980s to geo graphic-specific factors for disaggregated manufacturing industries, we fin d that the impact of geographic specific factors of startup activity varies substantially across industries. In addition, the evidence suggests that i t is factors specific to each industry, such as capital intensity, that sha pe the link between geographic-specific factors and new-firm startup activi ty.