Business demography in Europe. Results for 10 Member States and Norway. Data 1997-2000. 2003 edition

Business demography is an increasingly important subject as policy makers debate how to increase the competitiveness of the EU economy. The capacity to adapt to economic changes is crucial for competitiveness. Enterprise demography, to some degree, reflects the dynamism of the EU economy through the adaptation of economic structures to changing market conditions, although there are many other factors that may explain the birth, survival and death of enterprises. For enterprise births these include, amongst others, characteristics relating to the enterprise and to the entrepreneur starting the enterprise or external factors, such as the economic cycle or the unemployment rate. This publication provides, for the first time, a comprehensive data set on enterprise births, deaths and survival rates, as well as information on the related employment and turnover. The data covers the period 1997-2000, across a full range of business activities.