DOES THE HAZARD RATE FOR NEW PLANTS VARY BETWEEN LOW-TECH AND HIGH-TECH INDUSTRIES

Based on a longitudinal data base the hazard rates of over 12000 newly established plants in U.S. manufacturing industry in 1976 are estimated and then compared between low and high-tech industries. It is found that the hazard rate differs across industries, and it also varies between low and high-tech industries. The hazard rate in low-tech industries is reduced in the presence of scale economies, whereas the exposure to risk tends to be higher in high-tech industries. The influence of start-up size in reducing the hazard rate is apparently similar between low and high-tech industries, but its role is found to be more important in the high-technological industries. Market growth and R&D intensity exert no influence on the hazard rate in either the low- or high-tech industries.