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Startups and Local Social Capital in the Municipalities of Sweden

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  • Hans Westlund

  • Johan P. Larsson
  • Amy Olsson

Abstract

This paper contains one of the first empirical attempts to investigate the influence of local Entrepreneurial Social Capital on startup propensity. We use a unique database including not only total startups, but data on startups divided in six branches to study the impact of Entrepreneurial social capital on startups per capita. Analyses are performed on all municipalities as well as by municipality type (urban or rural). Entrepreneurial social capital, measured by local firms’ assessment of local publics’ attitudes to entrepreneurship seem to exert a positive and significant influence on local startup rates in both urban and rural municipalities in Sweden. When startups are being divided in six branch groups, entrepreneurial social capital keeps its significance for all branches in rural areas, while it stays significant for two of the groups in urban areas. Thus, social capital seems to have a broader and more general impact on startup rates in rural areas. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Startups, Entrepreneurial social capital

Suggested Citation

  • Hans Westlund & Johan P. Larsson & Amy Olsson, 2012. "Startups and Local Social Capital in the Municipalities of Sweden," ERSA conference papers ersa12p91, European Regional Science Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa12p91
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    File URL: https://www-sre.wu.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa12/e120821aFinal00093.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Westlund, Hans & Bolton, Roger, 2003. "Local Social Capital and Entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 77-113, September.
    2. Mark T. Schenkel & Diana M. Hechavarria & Charles H. Matthews, 2009. "The Role of Human and Social Capital and Technology in Nascent Ventures," International Studies in Entrepreneurship, in: Richard T. Curtin & Paul D. Reynolds (ed.), New Firm Creation in the United States, chapter 0, pages 157-183, Springer.
    3. Johnson, P S, 1983. "New Manufacturing Firms in the U.K. Regions," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 30(1), pages 75-79, February.
    4. Martin Andersson & Urban Gråsjö, 2009. "Spatial dependence and the representation of space in empirical models," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(1), pages 159-180, March.
    5. Thomas Gries & Wim Naudé, 2008. "Entrepreneurship and Regional Economic Growth: Towards A General Theory of Start-Ups," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2008-70, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Hans Westlund, 2006. "Social Capital in the Knowledge Economy," Advances in Spatial Science, Springer, number 978-3-540-35366-9, February.
    7. Hans Westlund, 2011. "Multidimensional entrepreneurship: theoretical considerations and Swedish empirics," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(3), pages 199-218, August.
    8. Storey, David J & Johnson, Steven G, 1987. "Regional Variations in Entrepreneurship in the U.K," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 34(2), pages 161-173, May.
    9. Börje Johansson & Johan Klaesson & Michael Olsson, 2003. "Commuters’ non-linear response to time distances," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 315-329, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael Fritsch & Michael Wyrwich, 2015. "The Persistence of Regional Entrepreneurship - Are all types of Self-Employment Equally Important?," Jena Economics Research Papers 2015-008, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    2. Michael Fritsch & Sandra Kublina, 2019. "Persistence and change of regional new business formation in the national league table," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 891-917, July.
    3. Stuetzer, Michael & Obschonka, Martin & Audretsch, David B. & Wyrwich, Michael & Rentfrow, Peter J. & Coombes, Mike & Shaw-Taylor, Leigh & Satchell, Max, 2016. "Industry structure, entrepreneurship, and culture: An empirical analysis using historical coalfields," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 52-72.
    4. Michael Fritsch & Michael Wyrwich, 2016. "Does persistence in start-up activity reflect persistence in social capital?," Chapters, in: Hans Westlund & Johan P. Larsson (ed.), Handbook of Social Capital and Regional Development, chapter 4, pages 82-107, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Michael Fritsch & Michael Wyrwich, 2014. "The Effect of Regional Entrepreneurship Culture on Economic Development - Evidence for Germany," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1411, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Apr 2014.
    6. Luigi Bonatti & Andrea Fracasso, 2017. "Addressing the Core-Periphery Imbalances in Europe: Resource Misallocation and Expansionary Fiscal Policies," EconPol Working Paper 6, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    7. Amy Rader Olsson & Hans Westlund & Johan P. Larsson, 2020. "Entrepreneurial Governance and Local Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-16, May.
    8. Klaesson, Johan & Larsson, Johan P, 2014. "Education and Self-employment Propensity," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 345, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    9. Tubadji, Annie & Nijkamp, Peter & Santarelli, Enrico, 2017. "Shacklean Uncertainty and Cultural Embeddedness as Innovation Constraints in the UK," GLO Discussion Paper Series 111, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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