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Historical Roots of Entrepreneurial Culture and Innovation Activity?An Analysis for German Regions

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  • Michael Fritsch
  • Martin Obschonka
  • Michael Wyrwich

Abstract

There is a research gap with respect to understanding the role of entrepreneurial culture and tradition for actual start-up behaviour. We combine historical self-employment data (entrepreneurial tradition) with a psycho- logical measure for entrepreneurial attitudes (entrepreneurial culture). The results reveal a positive relationship between the historical level of self- employment in a region and the presence of people with an entrepreneurial personality structure today. Our measure for a regional culture of entrepreneurship is positively related not only to the level of new business formation but also the amount of innovation activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Fritsch & Martin Obschonka & Michael Wyrwich, 2018. "Historical Roots of Entrepreneurial Culture and Innovation Activity?An Analysis for German Regions," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1824, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jun 2018.
    • Handle: RePEc:egu:wpaper:1824
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Balaussa Azubayeva, 2021. "The Impact of Cultural Capital on Development of Entrepreneurship in Wales," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-24, December.
    2. Michael Fritsch & Michael Wyrwich, 2021. "Does Successful Innovation Require Large Urban Areas? Germany as a Counterexample," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 97(3), pages 284-308, May.
    3. Nobuo Kobayashi, 2020. "A factor analysis of business start-up rates in Japan: contemporary and historical context," Discussion Paper Series 202, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University.
    4. Michael Fritsch & Martin Obschonka & Fabian Wahl & Michael Wyrwich, 2021. "Cultural Imprinting: Ancient Origins of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Germany," Jena Economics Research Papers 2021-012, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    5. Feng-Wen Chen & Long-Wang Fu & Kai Wang & Sang-Bing Tsai & Ching-Hsia Su, 2018. "The Influence of Entrepreneurship and Social Networks on Economic Growth—From a Sustainable Innovation Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-19, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; self-employment; new business formation; personality traits; culture; innovation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • N94 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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