IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v56y2021i2d10.1007_s11187-019-00193-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Knowledge-based service economy and firm entry: an alternative to the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandra Tsvetkova

    (The OECD Trento Centre for Local Development
    The Ohio State University)

  • Mark Partridge

    (The Ohio State University
    Jinan University
    Gran Sasso Science Institute)

Abstract

Recent research on the determinants of high-tech business entry increasingly relies on the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship (KTSE), which contends that employees-turned-entrepreneurs start new companies in order to commercialize unused local knowledge generated by incumbent firms and universities. Existing literature in the USA context finds a positive relationship between regional knowledge production and (total) high-tech start-up rates, which is interpreted as lending empirical support to the theory. In this paper, we perform a systematic test of the KSTE and show that KSTE-based explanation of business entry is not always consistent with the US firm formation patterns when the analysis gradually shifts from less to more knowledge-intensive environments. We then discuss alternative business entry mechanisms that are more in line with the geographical and sectoral variation in the US high-tech start-up rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandra Tsvetkova & Mark Partridge, 2021. "Knowledge-based service economy and firm entry: an alternative to the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 637-657, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:56:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11187-019-00193-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-019-00193-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-019-00193-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-019-00193-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David B. Audretsch, 2003. "Innovation And Spatial Externalities," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 26(2), pages 167-174, April.
    2. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Paul Bishop, 2012. "Knowledge, diversity and entrepreneurship: a spatial analysis of new firm formation in Great Britain," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(7-8), pages 641-660, September.
    4. Betz, Michael R. & Partridge, Mark D. & Farren, Michael & Lobao, Linda, 2015. "Coal mining, economic development, and the natural resources curse," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 105-116.
    5. Elisabeth Bublitz & Michael Fritsch & Michael Wyrwich, 2015. "Balanced Skills and the City: An Analysis of the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Skill Balance, Thickness, and Innovation," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 91(4), pages 475-508, October.
    6. Timothy J. Bartik, 1991. "Who Benefits from State and Local Economic Development Policies?," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number wbsle, November.
    7. Feldman, Maryann P. & Audretsch, David B., 1999. "Innovation in cities:: Science-based diversity, specialization and localized competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 409-429, February.
    8. Jun Koo, 2005. "Agglomeration and spillovers in a simultaneous framework," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 39(1), pages 35-47, March.
    9. Belal Fallah & Mark D. Partridge & Dan S. Rickman, 2014. "Geography and High-Tech Employment Growth in US Counties," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(4), pages 683-720.
    10. Adriaan Van Stel & Henry Nieuwenhuijsen, 2004. "Knowledge Spillovers and Economic Growth: An Analysis Using Data of Dutch Regions in the Period 1987-1995," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 393-407.
    11. Helsley, Robert W. & Strange, William C., 2011. "Entrepreneurs and cities: Complexity, thickness and balance," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 550-559.
    12. Rui Baptista & Joana Mendonça, 2010. "Proximity to knowledge sources and the location of knowledge-based start-ups," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 45(1), pages 5-29, August.
    13. Lawrence A. Plummer & Zoltán J. Ács, 2015. "Localized competition in the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 8, pages 145-160, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Knight, Gary A., 2001. "Entrepreneurship and strategy in the international SME," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 155-171.
    15. Joris Knoben & Roderik Ponds & Frank van Oort, 2011. "Employment from new firm formation in the Netherlands: Agglomeration economies and the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3-4), pages 135-157, April.
    16. Dohse, Dirk & Vaona, Andrea, 2014. "Start-up complexity and the thickness of regional input markets," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 424-427.
    17. Paul Reynolds & David J. Storey & Paul Westhead, 2007. "Cross-national Comparisons of the Variation in New Firm Formation Rates," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(sup1), pages 123-136.
    18. Zoltán J. Ács & Pontus Braunerhjelm & David B. Audretsch & Bo Carlsson, 2015. "The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 7, pages 129-144, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Storey, David J & Jones, A M, 1987. "New Firm Formation--A Labour Market Approach to Industrial Entry," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 34(1), pages 37-51, February.
    20. Alexandra Tsvetkova, 2015. "Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Metropolitan Economic Performance," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 29(4), pages 299-316, November.
    21. Michael Fritsch & Pamela Mueller, 2004. "Effects of New Business Formation on Regional Development over Time," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(8), pages 961-975.
    22. Haifeng Qian & Zoltán J. Ács, 2015. "An absorptive capacity theory of knowledge spillover entrepreneurship," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 9, pages 161-173, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    23. Alexandra Tsvetkova & Jean-Claude Thill & Deborah Strumsky, 2014. "Metropolitan innovation, firm size, and business survival in a high-tech industry," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 661-676, October.
    24. Pakes, Ariel & Griliches, Zvi, 1980. "Patents and R&D at the firm level: A first report," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 377-381.
    25. Andrea Bonaccorsi & Massimo Colombo & Massimiliano Guerini & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2013. "University specialization and new firm creation across industries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 837-863, December.
    26. Zoltan J. Acs & Luc Anselin & Attila Varga, 2008. "Patents and Innovation Counts as Measures of Regional Production of New Knowledge," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 11, pages 135-151, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    27. David Audretsch & Maksim Belitski, 2013. "The missing pillar: the creativity theory of knowledge spillover entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 819-836, December.
    28. Fritsch, Michael, 2013. "New Business Formation and Regional Development: A Survey and Assessment of the Evidence," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 9(3), pages 249-364, February.
    29. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    30. Shaoming Cheng & Huaqun Li, 2011. "Spatially Varying Relationships of New Firm Formation in the United States," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(6), pages 773-789.
    31. Détang-Dessendre, Cécile & Partridge, Mark D. & Piguet, Virginie, 2016. "Local labor market flexibility in a perceived low migration country: The case of French labor markets," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 89-103.
    32. Michael Fritsch & Ronney Aamoucke, 2013. "Regional public research, higher education, and innovative start-ups: an empirical investigation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 865-885, December.
    33. Andrews,Donald W. K. & Stock,James H. (ed.), 2005. "Identification and Inference for Econometric Models," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521844413.
    34. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 287-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    35. Michael Fritsch & Pamela Mueller & Antje Weyh, 2005. "Direct and indirect effects of new business formation on regional employment," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(9), pages 545-548.
    36. Tsvetkova, Alexandra & Partridge, Mark D., 2016. "Economics of modern energy boomtowns: Do oil and gas shocks differ from shocks in the rest of the economy?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 81-95.
    37. Baptista, Rui & Lima, Francisco & Mendonça, Joana, 2011. "Establishment of higher education institutions and new firm entry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 751-760, June.
    38. Niccolò Ghio & Massimiliano Guerini & Erik Lehmann & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2015. "The emergence of the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 1-18, January.
    39. Koen Frenken & Frank Van Oort & Thijs Verburg, 2007. "Related Variety, Unrelated Variety and Regional Economic Growth," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 685-697.
    40. Alessandra Colombelli, 2016. "The impact of local knowledge bases on the creation of innovative start-ups in Italy," Post-Print halshs-01340050, HAL.
    41. Gerben Panne, 2004. "Agglomeration externalities: Marshall versus Jacobs," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 14(5), pages 593-604, December.
    42. John Haltiwanger & Ron S. Jarmin & Javier Miranda, 2013. "Who Creates Jobs? Small versus Large versus Young," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 347-361, May.
    43. Catherine Armington & Zoltan Acs, 2002. "The Determinants of Regional Variation in New Firm Formation," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(1), pages 33-45.
    44. Lee, In Hyeock & Hong, Eunsuk & Sun, Laixiang, 2013. "Regional knowledge production and entrepreneurial firm creation: Spatial Dynamic Analyses," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 2106-2115.
    45. Niels Bosma & Rolf Sternberg, 2014. "Entrepreneurship as an Urban Event? Empirical Evidence from European Cities," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(6), pages 1016-1033, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tessa Conroy & Philip Watson, 2023. "Overeducation, natural amenities, and entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 1111-1131, October.
    2. Ronja Kirschning & Matthias Mrożewski, 2023. "The role of entrepreneurial absorptive capacity for knowledge spillover entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 105-120, January.
    3. Fenjie Long & Longfei Zheng & Haifeng Qian, 2023. "Entrepreneurship in China’s peripheral regions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(1), pages 287-313, February.
    4. Naudé, Wim, 2020. "From the Entrepreneurial to the Ossified Economy: Evidence, Explanations and a New Perspective," GLO Discussion Paper Series 539, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tsvetkova, Alexandra, 2016. "Do diversity, creativity and localized competition promote endogenous firm formation? Evidence from a high-tech US industry," MPRA Paper 72349, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Silveli Cristo-Andrade & João J. Ferreira, 2020. "Knowledge spillovers and strategic entrepreneurship: what researches and approaches?," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 263-286, March.
    3. Niccolò Ghio & Massimiliano Guerini & Erik Lehmann & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2015. "The emergence of the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 1-18, January.
    4. Alexandra Tsvetkova & Tessa Conroy & Jean-Claude Thill, 2020. "Surviving in a high-tech manufacturing industry: the role of innovative environment and proximity to metropolitan industrial portfolio," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 501-527, June.
    5. Maksim Belitski & Rosa Caiazza & Erik E. Lehmann, 2021. "Knowledge frontiers and boundaries in entrepreneurship research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 521-531, February.
    6. Haifeng Qian, 2018. "Knowledge-Based Regional Economic Development: A Synthetic Review of Knowledge Spillovers, Entrepreneurship, and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 32(2), pages 163-176, May.
    7. Fandi Yang & Peng Yuan & Gongxiong Jiang, 2022. "Knowledge Spillovers, Institutional Environment, and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-27, November.
    8. Angelo Cavallo & Antonio Ghezzi & Alessandra Colombelli & Gian Luca Casali, 2020. "Agglomeration dynamics of innovative start-ups in Italy beyond the industrial district era," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 239-262, March.
    9. Colombelli, Alessandra & Quatraro, Francesco, 2018. "New firm formation and regional knowledge production modes: Italian evidence," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 139-157.
    10. Ejdemo, Thomas & Örtqvist, Daniel, 2020. "Related variety as a driver of regional innovation and entrepreneurship: A moderated and mediated model with non-linear effects," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    11. Ronja Kirschning & Matthias Mrożewski, 2023. "The role of entrepreneurial absorptive capacity for knowledge spillover entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 105-120, January.
    12. Lars Speckemeier & Dimitrios Tsivrikos, 2022. "Green Entrepreneurship: Should Legislators Invest in the Formation of Sustainable Hubs?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-26, June.
    13. Alexandra Tsvetkova, 2015. "Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Metropolitan Economic Performance," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 29(4), pages 299-316, November.
    14. Alessandra Colombelli & Francesco Quatraro, 2019. "Green start-ups and local knowledge spillovers from clean and dirty technologies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 773-792, April.
    15. Giancarlo Giudici & Massimiliano Guerini & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2019. "The creation of cleantech startups at the local level: the role of knowledge availability and environmental awareness," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 815-830, April.
    16. Niklas Elert, 2014. "What determines entry? Evidence from Sweden," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(1), pages 55-92, August.
    17. Alfredo Monte & Luca Pennacchio, 2020. "Historical roots of regional entrepreneurship: the role of knowledge and creativity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 1-22, June.
    18. Niccolò Ghio & Massimiliano Guerini & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2016. "University knowledge and the creation of innovative start-ups: an analysis of the Italian case," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 293-311, August.
    19. Tobias Schlegel & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2023. "The role of fields of study for the effects of higher education institutions on regional firm location," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1587-1656, December.
    20. Alessandra Colombelli & Gianluca Orsatti & Francesco Quatraro, 2021. "Local knowledge composition and the emergence of entrepreneurial activities across industries: evidence from Italian NUTS-3 regions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 613-635, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:56:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11187-019-00193-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.