Drivers of spin-off performance in industry clusters: Embodied knowledge or embedded firms?

•Survival of entrepreneurial entrants into the Portuguese plastic molds industry is studied.•Our findings are consistent with Klepper’s heritage theory of regional agglomeration.•Within-industry hiring contributes to the survival of entrants.•About 10% of spin-offs‘ reduced exit hazard is explained by within-industry hires.•We find no evidence that regional embeddedness contributes to entrants‘ longevity.