Survivorship and Growth in the Residential Remodeling Industry: Evidence from the Census of Construction

W01-5: This paper presents preliminary results on the survival, dissolution, and growth patterns of residential remodeling establishments located in metropolitan areas in the United States by region. The findings show that five-year dissolution rates for these establishments between 1987 and 1992 were 53.3 percent. Controlling for a variety of establishment-specific and contextual variables, models discussed in the paper reveal that probability of dissolution is inversely related to establishment age, establishment size, and growth in residential construction demand. Surprisingly, amount of work subcontracted out, diversification into new construction, and the size of the metropolitan area where the establishment is based show no significant or consistent effects across the four census regions of the country. Employment growth of surviving establishments for this same period is also inversely related to establishment age and establishment size, but also to MSA size. The research presented here relies primarily upon a recently created database linking establishment level data collected from Census of Construction Industries (CCI) and establishment level data available from the Standard Statistical Establishment List (SSEL), both housed at the Census Bureau's Center for Economic Studies…