IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wiw/wiwrsa/ersa10p1646.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Entrepreneurial activity across European cities

Author

Listed:
  • Maksim Belitski
  • Julia Korosteleva

Abstract

The importance of entrepreneurship as a driving force in the economic development has been widely recognised. Respectively, a growing number of empirical studies have focused on explaining variation in entrepreneurial activity at various spatial levels with the majority of them taking either a cross-country perspective or looking at the inter-regional differences. Given limited city-level data availability, scarce work has been undertaken so far on cross-city entrepreneurship within the spatially oriented entrepreneurship research. Furthermore, to our best knowledge, no empirical studies exist on entrepreneurship across European cities and our paper aims to bridge this gap. The object of the paper is to analyse the variation in entrepreneurial activity across European cities. More specifically, by harmonizing the city level data in 31 European countries, based on European Urban Audit Survey (Eurostat) data, we undertake a panel data study of how various demographic, socio-economic, ethnic and geographical characteristics of European cities and institutional country-level settings affect entrepreneurship in 377 European cities during the period of 1989-2006. We use the rate of self-employment as a measure of entrepreneurship. While controlling for various spatial effects across cities we find that the rate of self-employment is largely explained by city size, socio-economic characteristics, such as the level of education and city inhabitants' wellbeing, city ethnicity and size of a local government. Institutional quality, including a property right system and democratic institutions, and city location affect entrepreneurship. Our findings fail to support a hypothesis of the importance of capital city incubators, Euroregions and EU enlargement for entrepreneurial activity. Surprisingly, our city location results suggest that cities in the south of Europe are more entrepreneurial than in the north. Along with a positive effect of a lower education and insignificant effect of a city typology associated with high-tech entrepreneurship. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Agglomeration, Labour market, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Urban JEL Codes: L26 R10 R30 O31

Suggested Citation

  • Maksim Belitski & Julia Korosteleva, 2011. "Entrepreneurial activity across European cities," ERSA conference papers ersa10p1646, European Regional Science Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p1646
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www-sre.wu.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa10/ERSA2010finalpaper1646.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fischer, Manfred M. & Scherngell, Thomas & Reismann, Martin, 2008. "Knowledge spillovers and total factor productivity. Evidence using a spatial panel data model," MPRA Paper 77762, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    3. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    4. 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.
    5. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew J, 1998. "What Makes an Entrepreneur?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 26-60, January.
    6. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2004. "Micro-foundations of urban agglomeration economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 48, pages 2063-2117, Elsevier.
    7. Estrin, Saul & Korosteleva, Julia & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2009. "Better Means More: Property Rights and High-Growth Aspiration Entrepreneurship," IZA Discussion Papers 4396, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Parker,Simon C., 2009. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521728355, March.
    9. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    10. Glaeser, Edward L. & Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2010. "Urban economics and entrepreneurship," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 1-14, January.
    11. David G. Blanchflower, 2004. "Self-Employment: More may not be better," NBER Working Papers 10286, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Uwe Blien & Hermann Gartner & Heiko Stüber & Katja Wolf, 2009. "Regional price levels and the agglomeration wage differential in western Germany," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(1), pages 71-88, March.
    13. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Ross, Amanda, 2010. "Violent crime, entrepreneurship, and cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 135-149, January.
    14. Edward Ludwig Glaeser & Albert Saiz, 2003. "The rise of the skilled city," Working Papers 04-2, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    15. David Roodman, 2006. "How to Do xtabond2," North American Stata Users' Group Meetings 2006 8, Stata Users Group.
    16. David Penn, 2009. "Financial well-being in an urban area: an application of multiple imputation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(23), pages 2955-2964.
    17. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1992. "The Tradeoff between Firm Size and Diversity in the Pursuit of Technological Progress," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-14, March.
    18. Doms, Mark & Lewis, Ethan & Robb, Alicia, 2010. "Local labor force education, new business characteristics, and firm performance," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 61-77, January.
    19. Baumol, William J., 1996. "Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 3-22, January.
    20. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2008. "The attenuation of human capital spillovers," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 373-389, September.
    21. Niels Bosma & Veronique Schutjens & Erik Stam, 2009. "Entrepreneurship in European Regions," International Studies in Entrepreneurship, in: Rui Baptista & Joao Leitao (ed.), Public Policies for Fostering Entrepreneurship, chapter 0, pages 59-89, Springer.
    22. Niels Bosma & Veronique Schutjens, 2009. "Mapping entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurial attitudes in European regions," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(2), pages 191-213.
    23. Edward L. Glaeser & Stuart S. Rosenthal & William C. Strange, 2010. "Cities and Entrepreneurship," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number glae09-1, March.
    24. Mandelman, Federico S. & Montes-Rojas, Gabriel V., 2009. "Is Self-employment and Micro-entrepreneurship a Desired Outcome?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 1914-1925, December.
    25. Niels Bosma & Veronique Schutjens, 2007. "Patterns Of Promising Entrepreneurial Activity In European Regions," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 98(5), pages 675-686, December.
    26. Parker,Simon C., 2009. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521899604, March.
    27. Parker,Simon C., 2006. "The Economics of Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521030632.
    28. David Audretsch & Roy Thurik, 2004. "A Model of the Entrepreneurial Economy," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2004-12, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
    29. Edward L. Glaeser, 2007. "Entrepreneurship and the City," NBER Working Papers 13551, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "The Economics of Superstars," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(5), pages 845-858, December.
    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. Maksim Belitski & Julia Korosteleva, 2011. "Entrepreneurship and Cities: Evidence from the Post-communist World," WIFO Working Papers 397, WIFO.
    2. Maksim Belitski & Julia Korosteleva, 2011. "Entrepreneurship and cities: evidence from the post-communist world," ERSA conference papers ersa11p288, European Regional Science Association.

    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. Maksim Belitski & Julia Korosteleva, 2011. "Entrepreneurship and cities: evidence from the post-communist world," ERSA conference papers ersa11p288, European Regional Science Association.
    2. Maksim Belitski & Julia Korosteleva, 2011. "Entrepreneurship and Cities: Evidence from the Post-communist World," WIFO Working Papers 397, WIFO.
    3. Maksim Belitski & Julia Korosteleva & Julia Korosteleva, 2012. "Entrepreneurial Dynamics and Higher Education Institutions: Evidence from the Post-Communist World," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 120, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    4. Belitski Maksim, 2011. "Driving Urban Economic Growth – Evidence from Transition Economies," EERC Working Paper Series 11/10e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    5. Glaeser, Edward L. & Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2010. "Urban economics and entrepreneurship," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 1-14, January.
    6. Andrés Barreneche García, 2014. "Analyzing the determinants of entrepreneurship in European cities," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 77-98, January.
    7. Paul A. Coomes & Jose Fernandez & Stephan F. Gohmann, 2013. "The Rate of Proprietorship Among Metropolitan Areas: The Impact of the Local Economic Environment and Capital Resources," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(4), pages 745-770, July.
    8. Aaron Chatterji & Edward Glaeser & William Kerr, 2014. "Clusters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 129-166.
    9. Zara Daghbashyan & Björn Hårsman, 2014. "University choice and entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 729-746, April.
    10. Rohlin, Shawn & Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Ross, Amanda, 2014. "Tax avoidance and business location in a state border model," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 34-49.
    11. Catherine Laffineur & Saulo Dubard Barbosa & Alain Fayolle & Emeran Nziali, 2017. "Active labor market programs’ effects on entrepreneurship and unemployment," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 889-918, December.
    12. Julia Korosteleva & Maksim Belitski, 2017. "Entrepreneurial dynamics and higher education institutions in the post-Communist world," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(3), pages 439-453, March.
    13. Gabriel, Stuart A. & Rosenthal, Stuart S., 2013. "Urbanization, agglomeration economies, and access to mortgage credit," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 42-50.
    14. Daghbashyan, Zara & Hårsman, Björn, 2012. "Entrepreneurship and Arts Related Education," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 295, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    15. Sergey Lychagin & Joris Pinkse & Margaret E. Slade & John Van Reenen, 2016. "Spillovers in Space: Does Geography Matter?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 295-335, June.
    16. Backman, Mikaela & Karlsson, Charlie, 2013. "Who says life is over after 55? Entrepreneurship and an aging population," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 325, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    17. Nadia Simoes & Nuno Crespo & Sandrina B. Moreira, 2016. "Individual Determinants Of Self-Employment Entry: What Do We Really Know?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 783-806, September.
    18. Martin Andersson & Hans Lööf, 2011. "Agglomeration and productivity: evidence from firm-level data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 601-620, June.
    19. Felipe Starosta de Waldemar, 2010. "How costly is rent-seeking to diversification: an empirical approach," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 10008, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    20. Lenzi, Camilla, 2016. "Co-invention networks and inventive productivity in US citiesAuthor-Name: Breschi, Stefano," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 66-75.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    entrepreneurship; agglomeration; labour market; western europe; eastern europe; urban jel codes: l26 r10 r30 o31;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p1646. 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: Gunther Maier (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ersa.org .

    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.