Location of Entrepreneurship Assistance Centres in Israel

The establishment of entrepreneurship assistance centres in Israel in the 1990s, triggered by the need to absorb mass‐immigration, serves as an example for the geographic implications of the break from top‐down approaches to regional development towards a pluralist model that involves a variety of national networks and local partnerships. A balance between cost effectiveness and social needs was achieved through the establishment of assistance centres by several organisations, each committed to a different set of principles. Demand‐driven initiatives, led by broad coalitions, were common in core regions, while stronger parochial political culture and ‘social needs’ orientation of development initiatives reduced the prospects for formation of broad growth coalitions in the periphery. Unique core‐periphery variations among immigrants increased the attractiveness of initiatives in the periphery. However, as the system matures, pre‐immigration core‐periphery variations in entrepreneurial potential can be expected to be more influential.