Location Decisions by High Technology Firms: A Comparison of Firm Size, Industry Type and Institutional Form

A total of 226 high technology firms were surveyed regarding location decisions. Differences in location behavior between smaller and larger companies were examined as were differences based on industry type and institutional form. Results suggested high technology firms are “footloose” in geographical location decisions, emphasizing factors such as ambience and availability of labor and property. Results also suggested smaller firms place more emphasis on ambience, while larger ones emphasize business-related factors. For site-specific decisions, firms (smaller companies in particular) were influenced by cost and access factors. These findings are relevant for municipalities and other ancillary services interested in high technology development.