The gestation patterns of new firms areinvestigated, especially the duration of gestation. Two present theories ofbusiness startup are examined, which consider the business as rational economicactors or as a biologic analogy. The definitional and theoretical issuesinvolved in defining the...

Linear models are developed to determine the relative impact of 15 start-up processes on the annual regional birth rate of new business organizations for all industry sectors in the U.S. over 6 two-year periods. These stable linear models explained from 50-70 percent of the variation in regional...