The Birth of New Firms In Italian Manufacturing

This paper is concerned with the dynamics of new firm formation in Italian manufacturing industry. New firms, which tend to be of small size, need to be examined with the help of specific measures of entry and their formation explained by means of specific determinants. In particular, it is assumed that individuals tend to establish small firms mainly through a comparison of their current labour earnings and the expected profits of their new business activity; their choice is also influenced by other factors related to the structure and the growth perspectives of the relevant industry and to labour market conditions. Policy implications of this perspective are sketched.