IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/lmu/muenar/20179.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Who’s got the aces up his sleeve? Functional specialization of cities and entrepreneurship

Author

Listed:
  • Audretsch, David B.
  • Falck, Oliver
  • Heblich, Stephan

Abstract

This paper combines the empirical finding of a functional specialization of cities with regional dynamics.We distinguish between cities dominated by headquarters and service firms (urban agglomerations), those with large stand-alone production plants in one sector (industrial agglomerations), and cities with integrated smaller firms (industrial districts). Based on German data, we find differing dynamics across these three city types. Cities that host basic research or integrated incumbents are more conducive to entrepreneurial activity,whereas the opposite is true of industrial agglomerations. Urban agglomerations dominated by headquarters with only administrative functions and the service sector are not very entrepreneur-friendly, either. However, although this type of city provides few externalities for startups in manufacturing, they could very well provide opportunities for service sector startups.

Suggested Citation

  • Audretsch, David B. & Falck, Oliver & Heblich, Stephan, 2011. "Who’s got the aces up his sleeve? Functional specialization of cities and entrepreneurship," Munich Reprints in Economics 20179, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:lmu:muenar:20179
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paulo Guimarães & Octávio Figueirdo & Douglas Woodward, 2003. "A Tractable Approach to the Firm Location Decision Problem," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(1), pages 201-204, February.
    2. Edward L. Glaeser, Jed Kolko, and Albert Saiz, 2001. "Consumer city," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 27-50, January.
    3. Bruce Fallick & Charles A. Fleischman & James B. Rebitzer, 2006. "Job-Hopping in Silicon Valley: Some Evidence Concerning the Microfoundations of a High-Technology Cluster," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(3), pages 472-481, August.
    4. Stefan Bauernschuster & Oliver Falck & Stephan Heblich, 2008. "Occupational Choice and Social Contacts Across Regions," Jena Economics Research Papers 2008-079, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    5. Guido Buenstorf & Steven Klepper, 2009. "Heritage and Agglomeration: The Akron Tyre Cluster Revisited," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(537), pages 705-733, April.
    6. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    7. Venohr, Bernd & Meyer, Klaus E., 2007. "The German miracle keeps running: How Germany's hidden champions stay ahead in the global economy," Working Papers 30, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute of Management Berlin (IMB).
    8. Kristin Aarland & James C. Davis & J. Vernon Henderson & Yukako Ono, 2007. "Spatial organization of firms: the decision to split production and administration," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 38(2), pages 480-494, June.
    9. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1996. "Firm Size and the Nature of Innovation within Industries: The Case of Process and Product R&D," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(2), pages 232-243, May.
    10. Gilles Duranton & Diego Puga, 2001. "Nursery Cities: Urban Diversity, Process Innovation, and the Life Cycle of Products," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1454-1477, December.
    11. Erik Stam, 2007. "Why Butterflies Don’t Leave: Locational Behavior of Entrepreneurial Firms," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(1), pages 27-50, January.
    12. Werner Bönte & Oliver Falck & Stephan Heblich, 2009. "The Impact of Regional Age Structure on Entrepreneurship," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 85(3), pages 269-287, July.
    13. Oliver Falck & Michael Fritsch & Stephan Heblich, 2008. "The Apple doesn't Fall far from the Tree: Location of Start-Ups Relative to Incumbents," CESifo Working Paper Series 2486, CESifo.
    14. Blundell, Richard & Griffith, Rachel & Van Reenen, John, 1995. "Dynamic Count Data Models of Technological Innovation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(429), pages 333-344, March.
    15. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2005. "From sectoral to functional urban specialisation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 343-370, March.
    16. Davis, James C. & Henderson, J. Vernon, 2008. "The agglomeration of headquarters," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 445-460, September.
    17. Kim, Sukkoo, 1999. "The Rise of Multiunit Firms in U.S. Manufacturing," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 360-386, October.
    18. Henderson, J. Vernon & Ono, Yukako, 2008. "Where do manufacturing firms locate their headquarters?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 431-450, March.
    19. Schmalensee, Richard, 1977. "Using the H-Index of Concentration with Published Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 59(2), pages 186-193, May.
    20. Steven Klepper, 2007. "Disagreements, Spinoffs, and the Evolution of Detroit as the Capital of the U.S. Automobile Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(4), pages 616-631, April.
    21. Michael Fritsch, 2008. "How does new business formation affect regional development? Introduction to the special issue," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 1-14, January.
    22. Jean-Marc Callois & Francis Aubert, 2007. "Towards Indicators of Social Capital for Regional Development Issues: The Case of French Rural Areas," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(6), pages 809-821.
    23. Edward L. Glaeser, 2007. "Entrepreneurship and the City," NBER Working Papers 13551, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Claudio Michelacci & Olmo Silva, 2007. "Why So Many Local Entrepreneurs?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(4), pages 615-633, November.
    25. Stuart S. Rosenthal & William C. Strange, 2003. "Geography, Industrial Organization, and Agglomeration," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(2), pages 377-393, May.
    26. repec:lmu:muenar:20496 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Ono, Yukako, 2003. "Outsourcing business services and the role of central administrative offices," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 377-395, May.
    28. Rainer Winkelmann, 2008. "Econometric Analysis of Count Data," Springer Books, Springer, edition 0, number 978-3-540-78389-3, December.
    29. Francis J. Greene & Kevin F. Mole & David J. Storey, 2008. "Three Decades of Enterprise Culture," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-28801-0.
    30. Richard Florida, 2002. "Bohemia and economic geography," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 2(1), pages 55-71, January.
    31. Carlton, Dennis W, 1983. "The Location and Employment Choices of New Firms: An Econometric Model with Discrete and Continuous Endogenous Variables," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 65(3), pages 440-449, August.
    32. Ann Markusen, 1996. "Sticky Places in Slippery Space: A Typology of Industrial Districts," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(3), pages 293-313, July.
    33. David B. Audretsch, 1995. "Innovation and Industry Evolution," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011468, December.
    34. Bramoulle, Yann & Kranton, Rachel, 2007. "Public goods in networks," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 478-494, July.
    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. Luisa Gagliardi & Simona Iammarino & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2021. "Exposure to OFDI and regional labour markets: evidence for routine and non-routine jobs in Great Britain [Who’s got the aces up his sleeve? Functional specialization of cities and entrepreneurship]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 21(5), pages 783-806.
    2. Shi-hong Zeng & Jie-chang Xia, 2016. "Why rapid urbanization process cannot improve employment absorption capacity of service industry in China—also on the interactive mode innovation between service industry development with urbanization," China Finance and Economic Review, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. G. F. Gori, 2013. "Urban Functional Specialisation and the Interplay between Firm s Communication Costs," Working Papers wp877, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    4. Peter Mayerhofer & Oliver Fritz, 2013. "Wiens Stadtwirtschaft. Internationale Spezialisierungschancen, zentrale Wirtschaftsbereiche," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 57933, April.
    5. Oliver Falck & Stephan Heblich & Stefan Kipar, 2011. "Incumbent innovation and domestic entry," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 271-279, April.
    6. Ismaëlh Cissé & Jean Dubé & Cédric Brunelle, 2020. "New business location: how local characteristics influence individual location decision?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 64(1), pages 185-214, February.
    7. Neil Lee & Andr�s Rodr�guez-Pose, 2014. "Innovation in Creative Cities: Evidence from British Small Firms," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(6), pages 494-512, August.
    8. Sarah A. Low & Jason P. Brown, 2017. "Manufacturing Plant Survival in a Period of Decline," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 297-312, September.
    9. Stefan Kipar, 2012. "Determinants of Firm Innovation - Evidence from German Panel Data," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 45.
    10. Hundt Christian & Sternberg Rolf, 2014. "How Did the Economic Crisis Influence New Firm Creation?: A Multilevel Approach Based Upon Data from German Regions," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 234(6), pages 722-756, December.
    11. Nadine LEVRATTO & Denis CARRÉ, 2013. "La Croissance Des Établissements Industriels : Une Question De Localisation," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 38, pages 93-120.

    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. William R. Kerr & Frederic Robert-Nicoud, 2020. "Tech Clusters," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 50-76, Summer.
    2. Aurélie LALANNE & Guillaume POUYANNE, 2012. "Ten years of metropolization in economics: a bibliometric approach (In French)," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2012-11, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    3. Edward L. Glaeser & William R. Kerr, 2009. "Local Industrial Conditions and Entrepreneurship: How Much of the Spatial Distribution Can We Explain?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(3), pages 623-663, September.
    4. David B. Audretsch & Oliver Falck & Stephan Heblich, 2007. "It’s All in Marshall: The Impact of External Economies on Regional Dynamics," CESifo Working Paper Series 2094, CESifo.
    5. Carlino, Gerald & Kerr, William R., 2015. "Agglomeration and Innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 349-404, Elsevier.
    6. Delgado, Mercedes & Porter, Michael E. & Stern, Scott, 2014. "Clusters, convergence, and economic performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(10), pages 1785-1799.
    7. Strauss-Kahn, Vanessa & Vives, Xavier, 2009. "Why and where do headquarters move?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 168-186, March.
    8. Werner Bönte & Oliver Falck & Stephan Heblich, 2009. "The Impact of Regional Age Structure on Entrepreneurship," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 85(3), pages 269-287, July.
    9. Oliver Falck & Michael Fritsch & Stephan Heblich, 2009. "Bohemians, Human Capital, and Regional Economic Growth," Jena Economic Research Papers 2009-049, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    10. Edward L. Glaeser & Joshua D. Gottlieb, 2009. "The Wealth of Cities: Agglomeration Economies and Spatial Equilibrium in the United States," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 983-1028, December.
    11. Stefan Kipar, 2012. "Determinants of Firm Innovation - Evidence from German Panel Data," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 45.
    12. Audretsch, David & Feldman, Maryann P & Falck, Oliver & Heblich, Stephan, 2008. "The Lifecycle of Regions," CEPR Discussion Papers 6757, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Peter Mayerhofer & Oliver Fritz, 2013. "Wiens Stadtwirtschaft. Internationale Spezialisierungschancen, zentrale Wirtschaftsbereiche," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 57933, April.
    14. Diego Puga, 2017. "The changing distribution of firms and workers across cities," Development Working Papers 418, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano, University of Milano.
    15. Kim, Jungho & Kollmann, Trevor & Palangkaraya, Alfons & Webster, Elizabeth, 2022. "Does local technological specialisation, diversity and dynamic competition enhance firm creation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).
    16. Dirk Dohse & Sascha Walter, 2012. "Knowledge context and entrepreneurial intentions among students," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 877-895, November.
    17. Peter Mayerhofer & Matthias Firgo & Stefan Schönfelder, 2015. "Vierter Bericht zur internationalen Wettbewerbsfähigkeit Wiens," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60625, April.
    18. Oliver Falck & Michael Fritsch & Stephan Heblich, 2009. "Bohemians, Human Capital, and Regional Economic Growth," Jena Economics Research Papers 2009-049, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    19. 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.
    20. Jordi Jofre-Monseny & Raquel Marín-López & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, 2012. "What underlies localization and urbanization economies? Evidence from the location of new firms," Working Papers 2012/9, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:lmu:muenar:20179. 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: Tamilla Benkelberg (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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.