Entry, growth, and survival in the green industry

Economists have, for some time, studied the factors that induce firm entry, lead to growth, and help firms succeed in various markets. Unfortunately, such patterns have not been considered for the so-called "green industries." Although policymakers might like to stimulate development of the green sectors in encouraging sustainable growth, one difficulty has been defining exactly what constitutes the green economy. We employ a recent, narrow definition proposed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to investigate and identify important factors for the green industries within the State of Texas. We find some differences between the green industries and all other industries, but these effects are often small relative to other major explanatory factors like agglomeration. The definition also partitions the green industry into five subcategories and we leverage this feature to study the importance of these factors for the intra-green industries and to identify the comparative advantage each county has within the green economy.