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Entrepreneurship and Market Size. The Case of Young College Graduates in Italy

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Abstract

We analyse empirically the effects of urbanization on Italian college graduates’ work possibilities as entrepreneurs three years after graduation. We find that doubling the province of work’s population density reduces the chances of being an entrepreneur by 2-3 percentage points. This result holds after controlling for regional fixed effects and is robust to instrumenting urbanization. Provinces’ competition, urban amenities and dis-amenities, cost of labour, earning differentials between employees and self-employed workers, unemployment rates and value added per capita account for more than half of the negative urbanization penalty. Our result cannot be explained by the presence of negative differentials in returns to entrepreneurship between the most and the least densely populated areas either. In fact, as long as they succeed in entering the most densely populated markets, young entrepreneurs are able to reap-off the benefits of urbanization externalities: the elasticity of entrepreneurs’ net monthly earnings with respect to population density is 0.02-0.03.

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  • Sabrina Di Addario & Daniela Vuri, 2010. "Entrepreneurship and Market Size. The Case of Young College Graduates in Italy," CEIS Research Paper 171, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 08 Nov 2010.
  • Handle: RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:171
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    2. Yang, Xiaolan & Hong, Xiaoyue & Li, Wenchao, 2023. "“Only children” and entrepreneurship in China: Spillover effects and mechanisms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. Lan, Xiujuan & Hu, Zheneng & Wen, Chuanhao, 2023. "Does the opening of high-speed rail enhance urban entrepreneurial activity? Evidence from China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    4. Joanna Tyrowicz & Magdalena Smyk & Barbara Liberda, 2017. "Talent workers as entrepreneurs: a new approach to aspirational self-employment," Bank i Kredyt, Narodowy Bank Polski, vol. 48(6), pages 571-592.
    5. Pokrovsky Dmitry & Behrens Kristian & Zhelobodko Evgeny, 2014. "Market Size, Entrepreneurship, and Income Inequality," EERC Working Paper Series 14/01e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    6. Hugo Horta & Michele Meoli & Silvio Vismara, 2016. "Skilled unemployment and the creation of academic spin-offs: a recession-push hypothesis," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 798-817, August.
    7. Grover,Arti Goswami & Lall,Somik V. & Timmis,Jonathan David, 2021. "Agglomeration Economies in Developing Countries : A Meta-Analysis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9730, The World Bank.
    8. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," 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 247-348, Elsevier.
    9. Behrens, Kristian & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2015. "Agglomeration Theory with Heterogeneous Agents," 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 171-245, Elsevier.
    10. Andrea Bonaccorsi & Massimo Colombo & Massimiliano Guerini & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2014. "The impact of local and external university knowledge on the creation of knowledge-intensive firms: evidence from the Italian case," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 261-287, August.
    11. Wan Li & Bindong Sun & Shuaishuai Han & Xiaoxi Jin, 2023. "Does Urban Agglomeration Discourage Entrepreneurship in China? Micro-Empirical Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, January.
    12. Di Addario, Sabrina, 2011. "Job search in thick markets," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 303-318, May.
    13. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1kv8mtgl748r0ahh12air9erdc is not listed on IDEAS
    14. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/1kv8mtgl748r0ahh12air9erdc is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Nam Kyoon N. Kim & Simon C. Parker, 0. "Entrepreneurial homeworkers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-25.
    16. Nam Kyoon N. Kim & Simon C. Parker, 2021. "Entrepreneurial homeworkers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 1427-1451, October.
    17. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," 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 247-348, Elsevier.
    18. Colombo, Massimo G. & Piva, Evila, 2020. "Start-ups launched by recent STEM university graduates: The impact of university education on entrepreneurial entry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(6).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labour market transitions; Urbanization.;

    JEL classification:

    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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