ABSTRACT
As was described in the introductory chapter, newly created firms attract a lot of attention in the Netherlands. The main reason for this has to do with the employment function of new firms. Moreover policy-makers in the problem regions now realize that bigger companies will probably not be able to create all the new jobs needed. From research conducted in the (problem) provinces of Friesland and Limburg it became immediately apparent that there are large spatial differences in the number of new firms founded even within a small country like Holland. These differences excited the interest of others and resulted in a research project financed by our Ministry of Economic Affairs. The main research questions investigated in this project were:
how many new firms have been founded in the various regions (districts of Chambers of Commerce) within the Netherlands?
how many of these firms have survived?
what are the regional differences in the type of new firms created?
