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Has the Swedish Business Sector Become More Entrepreneurial than the U.S. Business Sector?

Author

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  • Andersson, Fredrik

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

  • Heyman, Fredrik

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

  • Norbäck, Pehr-Johan

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

  • Persson, Lars

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

Abstract

Recent studies document a 30-year decline in various measures of entrepreneurship in the United States. In contrast, using detailed Swedish employer-employee data over the period 1990–2013, we find no decline in Swedish entrepreneurial activity. Aggregate net job creation is greatest among the youngest firms in the Swedish business sector. Moreover, most of the net job creation by young firms takes place in the expanding service sector. We argue that a key explanation for the high entrepreneurial activity in the Swedish business sector during the last two decades stems from economic reforms in the 1990s that mitigated several hurdles to entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Andersson, Fredrik & Heyman, Fredrik & Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Persson, Lars, 2016. "Has the Swedish Business Sector Become More Entrepreneurial than the U.S. Business Sector?," Working Paper Series 1147, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 19 Nov 2018.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1147
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    Cited by:

    1. 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).
    2. Henrekson Magnus, 2017. "Taxation of Swedish Firm Owners: The Great Reversal from the 1970s to the 2010s," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2017(1), pages 26-46, January.
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    4. Niklas Elert & Magnus Henrekson, 2019. "The collaborative innovation bloc: A new mission for Austrian economics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 295-320, December.
    5. Francisca Sempere-Ripoll & Sofia Estelles-Miguel & Ronald Rojas-Alvarado & Jose-Luis Hervas-Oliver, 2020. "Does Technological Innovation Drive Corporate Sustainability? Empirical Evidence for the European Financial Industry in Catching-Up and Central and Eastern Europe Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, March.
    6. Criaco, Giuseppe & van Oosterhout, J. (Hans) & Nordqvist, Mattias, 2021. "Is blood always thicker than water? Family firm parents, kinship ties, and the survival of spawns," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(6).
    7. Niklas Elert & Dan Johansson & Mikael Stenkula & Niklas Wykman, 2023. "The evolution of owner-entrepreneurs’ taxation: five tax regimes over a 160-year period," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 517-540, April.
    8. Heyman, Fredrik & Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Persson, Lars, 2021. "Automation, Work and Productivity: The Role of Firm Heterogeneity," Working Paper Series 1382, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 09 Mar 2023.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurship; Job dynamics; Matched employer-employee data; Industrial structure and structural change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • K23 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation

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