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The Finnish Paradox: The Curious Absence of High- Growth Entrepreneurship in Finland

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  • Autio, Erkko

Abstract

This paper looks at how well Finland performs in high growth entrepreneurship and uses data from the Global Entrepreneurship monitor to benchmark Finland against other European countries. It is found that Finlands prevalence rate of high growth entrepreneurial activity lags significantly behind most of its European and all of its Scandinavian peers. That this weak performance in high-growth entrepreneurship goes hand in hand with Finland being a world leader in per capita investment in R&D may be described as a paradox. The reasons underlying the underperformance of Finland remain however unclear. At this point, explanations should be sought in culture, industrial traditions and systemic experience in high growth entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Autio, Erkko, 2009. "The Finnish Paradox: The Curious Absence of High- Growth Entrepreneurship in Finland," Discussion Papers 1197, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    • Handle: RePEc:rif:dpaper:1197
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    1. Paul Reynolds & Niels Bosma & Erkko Autio & Steve Hunt & Natalie De Bono & Isabel Servais & Paloma Lopez-Garcia & Nancy Chin, 2005. "Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: Data Collection Design and Implementation 1998–2003," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 205-231, February.
    2. Gordon Murray & Ari Hyytinen & Markku Maula, 2009. "Growth Entrepreneurship and Finance," Chapters, in: Reinhilde Veugelers (ed.), The Evaluation of the Finnish National Innovation System, pages 147-202, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    3. Acs, Zoltan J. & Szerb, László, 2009. "The Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEINDEX)," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 5(5), pages 341-435, August.
    4. Cassar, Gavin, 2006. "Entrepreneur opportunity costs and intended venture growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 610-632, September.
    5. Gavin Cassar, 2007. "Money, money, money? A longitudinal investigation of entrepreneur career reasons, growth preferences and achieved growth," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 89-107, January.
    6. Magnus Henrekson & Dan Johansson, 2010. "Gazelles as job creators: a survey and interpretation of the evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 227-244, September.
    7. C. Praag & Peter Versloot, 2007. "What is the value of entrepreneurship? A review of recent research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 351-382, December.
    8. Delmar, Frederic & Davidsson, Per & Gartner, William B., 2003. "Arriving at the high-growth firm," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 189-216, March.
    9. Silvia Ardagna & Annamaria Lusardi, 2010. "Explaining International Differences in Entrepreneurship: The Role of Individual Characteristics and Regulatory Constraints," NBER Chapters, in: International Differences in Entrepreneurship, pages 17-62, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Axel Dreher & Martin Gassebner, 2007. "Greasing the Wheels of Entrepreneurship? The Impact of Regulations and Corruption on Firm Entry," KOF Working papers 07-166, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    11. Jonathan Levie & Erkko Autio, 2008. "A theoretical grounding and test of the GEM model," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(3), pages 235-263, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ordeñana, Xavier & Vera-Gilces, Paúl & Zambrano-Vera, Jack & Jiménez, Alfredo, 2024. "The effect of high-growth and innovative entrepreneurship on economic growth," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    2. Teruel Carrizosa, Mercedes & De Wit, Gerrit, 2011. "Determinants of high-growth firms:why do some countries have more high-growth firms than others?," Working Papers 2072/179670, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    3. Besnik A. Krasniqi & Sameeksha Desai, 2016. "Institutional drivers of high-growth firms: country-level evidence from 26 transition economies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 1075-1094, December.
    4. Kimmo Viljamaa & Henri Lahtinen, 2012. "Erawatch Country Reports 2011: Finland," JRC Research Reports JRC77942, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Raúl Estrada-Lavilla & José Ruiz-Navarro, 2024. "Method for and Analysis of Early-Stage Firm Growth Patterns Using World Bank Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-17, February.
    6. Behnam Azhdari & Jean Bonnet & Sébastien Bourdin, 2022. "Towards a Causal Model and Causal Inference of Regional Entrepreneurship Development Index, its antecedents and outcomes in European regions," Economics Working Paper Archive (University of Rennes & University of Caen) 2022-06, Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREM), University of Rennes, University of Caen and CNRS.
    7. Dionisio, Eduardo Avancci & Inácio Júnior, Edmundo & Fischer, Bruno Brandão, 2021. "Country-level efficiency and the index of dynamic entrepreneurship: Contributions from an efficiency approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    firm growth; high growth firms; gazelles;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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