New firm formation, employment change and the small firm: the case of Cleveland County

The employment performance of small and new manufacturing firms is examined in Cleveland, an area characterised by large establishments in 'heavy' industry. Shows that relatively few jobs were created by wholly new manufacturing firms between 1965 and 1976, and that even raising the formation rate to that of the prosperous E Midlands would not have offset job losses through the contraction of large plants. New firm formations in an area are shown to be strongly associated with the workforce employed in small establishments.