The Survival and Birth of Firms

Using a modified form of the location quotient, a “growth quotient,” this study traces the survival and growth for the headquarters of publicly listed firms in the United States. At the county level, the spatial concentrations of headquarters listed in 1997 are correlated with the spatial concentrations of corporate headquarters that survived from 1986 though 1996. Counties that house the headquarters of many different survival firms continue to spawn new headquarters. Counties with headquarters of survival firms in only one or two industries tend to maintain and spawn firms in only those industries. These conclusions support the Porter thesis that firms will spatially cluster for competitive advantage.