New Business Formation and Incumbents’ Perception of Competitive Pressure

We investigate the relationship between new business formation and the level of competitive pressure that is perceived by manufacturing incumbent establishments. The perceived pressure of competition is stronger when entry in the respective industry is higher. This relationship holds not only for start-ups that are located in the same region of the incumbent, but also for start-ups across all regions of Germany. Additionally, we find that particularly small, low-productivity incumbents—as well as incumbents that are located in highly populated regions—are more likely to associate new business formation with high levels of competitive pressure. We also identify other incumbent characteristics that influence the overall level of perceived competitive pressure.