A REVIEW OF NEW BUSINESS EMERGENCE IN THE BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION SECTOR AND RECENT AUSTRALIAN EXPERIENCE

Abstract. This article reviews the value of new business activity to industry growth as relates to the building and construction (B&C) sector. A brief empirical analysis of the pattern of new busi-ness growth in the Australian B&C sector between 1997 and 1998 is presented herein. It is found that significant new business entry has taken place, in industries at both ends of the innovation spectrum and that further research is required to flesh-out the modest empirical work contained in this study. The findings indicate that, in particular, further research is needed in mapping the relative innovativeness of the B&C sector to more accurately interpret the value of particular patterns of new business activity; comparison of international new business growth rates; and examining longitudinal data. Key Words: Australia, new firms, firm entry, industry growth, innovation New business activity is having an increasingly important impact in global know-ledge economies. For instance, … in the 1950s and 1960s it took two entire decades for one-third of the Fortune 500 businesses to be replaced. In the 1970s it took one decade to replace one