Building on an earlier study of patterns on firm entry, exit growth and survival based on new data from Eurostat covering nine European Union member countries (Brandt, 2004), this paper takes a closer look at the role of policies and institutions for firm entry and survival and at the link between new firm creation and economic performance. The earlier study revealed that firm entry rates, i.e. the number of new firms in a market in relation to all active enterprises, were particularly high in Information and Communication (ICT) related industries in recent years. This lends some support to the idea present in some theories of economic growth that new firms are important for the development and implementation of new technologies. This paper takes a closer look at the relationship between firm entry and economic performance. Results reveals that high rates of firm entry tend to coincide with rapid productivity, output and employment growth, especially in the ICT related services ...
