FIRMS’ SURVIVAL AND COMPETITIVENESS: A CASE STUDY IN TUSCANY

Survival rates of firms is one of the most interesting determinants of their competitiveness in modern economies. This paper aims at identify the relationships among some firms’ characteristics and their survival in the market. We use a high level of sectors disaggregation and we study Tuscan firms behavior between 2000 and 2005 both in manufacturing and service sectors as a case study to capture recent market dynamics. The empirical analysis shows that firms on average are characterized by small size and low technological intensity. Both in manufacturing and service sectors the survival rates for large size firms are significantly higher than those of smaller firms while the survival rates after few years are very low. Service firms show higher survival probability than manufacturing firms and their hazard rates turn out to be less sensitive to size. Furthermore, we find evidence of technological niches in traditional sectors that foster competitiveness of this region.