IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/eurpls/v21y2013i10p1578-1597.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Start-up Competitions as an Instrument of Entrepreneurship Policy: The German Experience

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Schwartz
  • Maximilian Goethner
  • Claus Michelsen
  • Nathalie Waldmann

Abstract

The number of aspiring entrepreneurs in high-tech industries who successfully complete the transition from a nascent start-up project towards an operational new venture is comparatively low in Germany. Since the mid-1990s, policy-makers have initiated numerous start-up competitions (SUCs or business plan competitions) to facilitate this important step in the venture creation process. SUCs have two key objectives. They are aimed at increasing start-up activity by motivating potential entrepreneurs, while they should also help to increase the likelihood of subsequent entrepreneurial success through providing necessary entrepreneurial skills to prospective entrepreneurs. With our explorative study, we provide the first comprehensive empirical evidence from a cross-sectional survey of existing SUCs in Germany. Overall, 71 SUCs are identified which are analysed regarding their development, regional distribution, and main structural characteristics. Finally, we outline an agenda of future research questions concerning the effectiveness and efficiency of SUCs as an instrument of entrepreneurship policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Schwartz & Maximilian Goethner & Claus Michelsen & Nathalie Waldmann, 2013. "Start-up Competitions as an Instrument of Entrepreneurship Policy: The German Experience," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(10), pages 1578-1597, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eurpls:v:21:y:2013:i:10:p:1578-1597
    DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2012.722960
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09654313.2012.722960
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09654313.2012.722960?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heger, Diana & Höwer, Daniel & Müller, Bettina & Licht, Georg, 2011. "High-Tech-Gründungen in Deutschland. Von Tabellenführern, Auf- und Absteigern: Regionale Entwicklung der Gründungstätigkeit," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 110527, March.
    2. Niefert, Michaela & Metzger, Georg & Heger, Diana & Licht, Georg, 2006. "Hightech-Gründungen in Deutschland: Trends und Entwicklungsperspektiven. Endbericht," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 111468, March.
    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. Chiara Bonomo & Guido Bortoluzzi & Stephen Mbieke Ndula, 2018. "I contest universitari in europa. Una comparazione e una proposta tipologica," ECONOMIA E SOCIET? REGIONALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 0(3), pages 28-41.
    2. Léo-Paul Dana & Edoardo Crocco & Francesca Culasso & Elisa Giacosa, 2023. "Business plan competitions and nascent entrepreneurs: a systematic literature review and research agenda," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 863-895, June.
    3. Ondřej Dvouletý, 2023. "A note on the effects of start-up competitions: experience from the Czech Business Plan Contest “Idea of the Year”," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Jung Eung Park & Jim Pulcrano & Benoit Leleux, 2020. "Small is Beautiful? Niche Entrepreneurship with a Swiss Touch," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(4), pages 1-52, April.
    5. Renato Passaro & Ivana Quinto & Pierluigi Rippa & Antonio Thomas, 2020. "Evolution of Collaborative Networks Supporting Startup Sustainability: Evidences from Digital Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-20, November.
    6. Renato Passaro & Giuseppe Scandurra & Antonio Thomas, 2017. "The Emergence of Innovative Entrepreneurship: Beyond the Intention — Investigating the Participants in an Academic SUC," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(05), pages 1-22, October.
    7. Donaldson, Colin & Mateu, Guillermo, 2021. "New venture creation: a systematic review of associated literature," TEC Empresarial, School of Business, Costa Rica Institute of Technology (ITCR), vol. 15(1), pages 56-79.

    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. Anna Lejpras & Andreas Stephan, 2011. "Locational conditions, cooperation, and innovativeness: evidence from research and company spin-offs," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 543-575, June.
    2. Otto, Anne & Fornahl, Dirk, 2008. "Long-term growth determinants of young businesses in Germany : effects of regional concentration and specialisation," IAB-Discussion Paper 200813, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    3. Suprinovič, Olga & Schneck, Stefan & Kay, Rosemarie, 2016. "Einmal Unternehmer, immer Unternehmer? Selbstständigkeit im Erwerbsverlauf," IfM-Materialien 248, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    4. Schwartz, Michael, 2008. "Incubator Age and Incubation Time: Determinants of Firm Survival after Graduation?," IWH Discussion Papers 14/2008, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    5. Rosenfeld, Martin T. W. & Franz, Peter & Hornych, Christoph & Schwartz, Michael, 2008. "Neue Branchen an altindustriellen Standorten: Das Beispiel der Medienwirtschaft in der Stadt Halle (Saale). Gutachten im Auftrag der Landesmarketing Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH," IWH-Sonderhefte 2/2008, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    6. Rammer, Christian & Metzger, Georg, 2010. "Unternehmensdynamik in der Wissenswirtschaft in Deutschland und im internationalen Vergleich," Studien zum deutschen Innovationssystem 10-2010, Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI) - Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation, Berlin.
    7. David B. Audretsch & Dirk Dohse & Annekatrin Niebuhr, 2015. "Regional unemployment structure and new firm formation," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94, pages 115-138, November.
    8. Müller, Bettina & Niefert, Michaela & Rammer, Christian & Gottschalk, Sandra, 2011. "Unternehmensdynamik in der Wissenswirtschaft in Deutschland 2009: Gründungen und Schließungen von Unternehmen. Unternehmensdynamik in den Bundesländern. Internationaler Vergleich," Studien zum deutschen Innovationssystem 10-2011, Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI) - Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation, Berlin.
    9. Metzger, Georg & Niefert, Michaela & Licht, Georg, 2008. "High-Tech-Gründungen in Deutschland: Trends, Strukturen, Potenziale," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 110507, March.
    10. Metzger, Georg & Rammer, Christian, 2009. "Unternehmensdynamik in forschungs- und wissensintensiven Wirtschaftszweigen in Deutschland," Studien zum deutschen Innovationssystem 5-2009, Expertenkommission Forschung und Innovation (EFI) - Commission of Experts for Research and Innovation, Berlin.
    11. Heger, Diana & Tykvová, Tereza, 2007. "You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs: the impact of venture capitalists on executive turnover," ZEW Discussion Papers 07-003, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

    More about this item

    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:taf:eurpls:v:21:y:2013:i:10:p:1578-1597. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CEPS20 .

    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.