IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/rp2008-70.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Entrepreneurship and Regional Economic Growth: Towards A General Theory of Start-Ups

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Gries
  • Wim Naudé

Abstract

Start-ups of new firms are important for economic growth. However, start-up rates differ significantly between countries and within regions of the same country. A large empirical literature studies the reasons for this and attempts to identify the regional determinants of start-ups. In contrast, there is a much smaller theoretical literature that attempts the formal modelling of the start-up process within a region. In this paper, we attempt to contribute to this small literature by introducing a general theoretical model of the entrepreneurial start-up process.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2008-70
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/rp2008-70.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin Carree & Marcus Dejardin, 2007. "‘Entry Thresholds and Actual Entry and Exit in Local Markets’," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 203-212, June.
    2. Jean Bonnet & Sylvie Cieply & Marcus Dejardin, 2005. "Financial constraints on new firms: looking for regional disparities," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 48(3), pages 217-246.
    3. Fonseca, Raquel & Michaud, Pierre-Carl & Sopraseuth, Thepthida, 2007. "Entrepreneurship, Wealth, Liquidity Constraints and Start-up Costs," IZA Discussion Papers 2874, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
    4. Zoltan J. Acs & Attila Varga, 2008. "Entrepreneurship, Agglomeration and Technological Change," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 24, pages 341-352, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Murat Iyigun & Dani Rodrik, 2004. "On the Efficacy of Reforms: Policy Tinkering, Institutional Change, and Entrepreneurship," NBER Working Papers 10455, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Fonseca, Raquel & Michaud, Pierre-Carl & Sopraseuth, Thepthida, 2007. "Entrepreneurship, Wealth, Liquidity Constraints and Start-up Costs," IZA Discussion Papers 2874, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Evans, David S & Jovanovic, Boyan, 1989. "An Estimated Model of Entrepreneurial Choice under Liquidity Constraints," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(4), pages 808-827, August.
    8. Niels Bosma & Gerrit Wit & Martin Carree, 2005. "Modelling Entrepreneurship: Unifying The Equilibrium and Entry/Exit Approach," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 35-48, August.
    9. Huw Lloyd-Ellis & Dan Bernhardt, 2000. "Enterprise, Inequality and Economic Development," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 67(1), pages 147-168.
    10. 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.
    11. Su-wan Wang, 2006. "Determinants of New Firm Formation in Taiwan," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 313-321, December.
    12. Uschi Backes-Gellner & Arndt Werner, 2007. "Entrepreneurial Signaling via Education: A Success Factor in Innovative Start-Ups," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 173-190, June.
    13. Erik Hurst & Annamaria Lusardi, 2004. "Liquidity Constraints, Household Wealth, and Entrepreneurship," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(2), pages 319-347, April.
    14. Erik Stam, 2007. "Why Butterflies Don’t Leave: Locational Behavior of Entrepreneurial Firms," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(1), pages 27-50, January.
    15. Banerjee, Abhijit V & Newman, Andrew F, 1993. "Occupational Choice and the Process of Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(2), pages 274-298, April.
    16. Ciccone, Antonio & Matsuyama, Kiminori, 1996. "Start-up costs and pecuniary externalities as barriers to economic development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 33-59, April.
    17. Iyigun, Murat F & Owen, Ann L, 1999. "Entrepreneurs, Professionals, and Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 213-232, June.
    18. Sander Wennekers & André Stel & Roy Thurik & Paul Reynolds, 2008. "Nascent entrepreneurship and the level of economic development," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 325-325, March.
    19. Raquel Fonseca & Pierre-Carl Michaud & Thepthida Sopraseuth, 2007. "Entrepreneurship, Liquidity Constraints and Start-up Costs," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 173, McMaster University.
    20. Davidsson, Per & Honig, Benson, 2003. "The role of social and human capital among nascent entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 301-331, May.
    21. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-670, May.
    22. Fonseca, Raquel & Lopez-Garcia, Paloma & Pissarides, Christopher A., 2001. "Entrepreneurship, start-up costs and employment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 692-705, May.
    23. Dunn, Thomas & Holtz-Eakin, Douglas, 2000. "Financial Capital, Human Capital, and the Transition to Self-Employment: Evidence from Intergenerational Links," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(2), pages 282-305, April.
    24. Audretsch, David B. & Keilbach, Max C. & Lehmann, Erik E., 2006. "Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195183511.
    25. Thomas Dunn & Douglas Holtz-Eakin, 1996. "Financial Capital, Human Capital, and the Transition to Self-Employment:Evidence from Intergenerational Links," NBER Working Papers 5622, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    26. Romer, Paul M, 1987. "Growth Based on Increasing Returns Due to Specialization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(2), pages 56-62, May.
    27. Wennekers, Sander & Thurik, Roy, 1999. "Linking Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 27-55, August.
    28. Anna L. Paulson & Robert M. Townsend & Alexander Karaivanov, 2006. "Distinguishing Limited Liability from Moral Hazard in a Model of Entrepreneurship," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 114(1), pages 100-144, February.
    29. William M. Gentry & R. Glenn Hubbard, 2000. "Entrepreneurship and Household Saving," NBER Working Papers 7894, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Leff, Nathaniel H, 1979. "Entrepreneurship and Economic Development: The Problem Revisited," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 46-64, March.
    31. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    32. Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1978. "On the Size Distribution of Business Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(2), pages 508-523, Autumn.
    33. Simon Johnson & John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 2000. "Entrepreneurs and the Ordering of Institutional Reform: Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Russia and Ukraine Compared," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 8(1), pages 1-36, March.
    34. Phillip Kim & Howard Aldrich & Lisa Keister, 2006. "Access (Not) Denied: The Impact of Financial, Human, and Cultural Capital on Entrepreneurial Entryin the United States," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 5-22, August.
    35. J. Vernon Henderson, 2000. "The Effects of Urban Concentration on Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 7503, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Kaivan Munshi, 2007. "From Farming to International Business: The Social Auspices of Entrepreneurship in a Growing Economy," NBER Working Papers 13065, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    37. Ethier, Wilfred J, 1982. "National and International Returns to Scale in the Modern Theory of International Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 389-405, June.
    38. John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 2002. "The Central Role of Entrepreneurs in Transition Economies," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 153-170, Summer.
    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. Krista B. Lewellyn & Maureen I. Muller-Kahle, 2016. "A configurational approach to understanding gender differences in entrepreneurial activity: a fuzzy set analysis of 40 countries," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 765-790, September.
    2. Gries Thomas & Naude Wim, 2011. "Entrepreneurship, Structural Change and a Global Economic Crisis," Entrepreneurship Research Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 1(3), pages 1-43, July.
    3. Kent Eliasson & Hans Westlund, 2013. "Attributes influencing self-employment propensity in urban and rural Sweden," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 50(2), pages 479-514, April.
    4. United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) (ed.), 2009. "Globalization of Production and the Competitiveness of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Asia and the Pacific: Trends and Prospects," STUDIES IN TRADE AND INVESTMENT, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), volume 65, number tipub2540, April.
    5. Silviu Nate & Valentin Grecu & Andriy Stavytskyy & Ganna Kharlamova, 2022. "Fostering Entrepreneurial Ecosystems through the Stimulation and Mentorship of New Entrepreneurs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-18, June.
    6. Ing. Matthijs H. M. Hammer, 2012. "How Business Management benefit from Entrepreneurship," Proceedings- 10th International Conference on Mangement, Enterprise and Benchmarking (MEB 2012),, Óbuda University, Keleti Faculty of Business and Management.
    7. Tobias Stucki, 2009. "How long do external capital constraints matter?," KOF Working papers 09-241, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    8. Tengeh, Robertson Khan & Ballard, Harry & Slabbert, Andre, 2011. "A framework for acquiring the resources vital for the start-up of a business in South Africa:an African Immigrant’s Perspective," MPRA Paper 34211, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. 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.
    10. Tengeh, Robertson Khan & Ballard, Harry & Slabbert, Andre, 2011. "Financing the Start-up and Operation of Immigrant-owned Businesses: the path taken by African Immigrants in the Cape Town Metropolitan Area of South Africa," MPRA Paper 38405, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 Dec 2011.
    11. Georgios Fotopoulos, 2012. "Nonlinearities in regional economic growth and convergence: the role of entrepreneurship in the European union regions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 48(3), pages 719-741, June.

    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. Wim Naudé, 2008. "Entrepreneurship in Economic Development," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2008-20, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Thomas Gries & Wim Naudé, 2010. "Entrepreneurship and structural economic transformation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 13-29, January.
    3. Marco Vivarelli, 2013. "Is entrepreneurship necessarily good? Microeconomic evidence from developed and developing countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 22(6), pages 1453-1495, December.
    4. Wim Naudé, 2009. "Out with the Sleaze, in with the Ease: Insufficient for Entrepreneurial Development?," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-01, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Thomas Gries & Wim Naudé, 2009. "When to Start a New Firm?: Modelling the Timing of Novice and Serial Entrepreneurs," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-39, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Jolanda Hessels & Wim Naudé, 2019. "The Intersection Of The Fields Of Entrepreneurship And Development Economics: A Review Towards A New View," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 389-403, April.
    7. Francesco Quatraro & Marco Vivarelli, 2015. "Drivers of Entrepreneurship and Post-entry Performance of Newborn Firms in Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 277-305.
    8. Robert W. Fairlie & Harry A. Krashinsky, 2012. "Liquidity Constraints, Household Wealth, And Entrepreneurship Revisited," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 58(2), pages 279-306, June.
    9. Erik Monsen & Prashanth Mahagaonkar & Christian Dienes, 2012. "Entrepreneurship in India: the question of occupational transition," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 359-382, September.
    10. Pontus Braunerhjelm & Sameeksha Desai & Johan Eklund, 2015. "Regulation, firm dynamics and entrepreneurship," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 1-11, August.
    11. Robert W. Fairlie & Alicia M. Robb, 2008. "Race and Entrepreneurial Success: Black-, Asian-, and White-Owned Businesses in the United States," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026206281x, December.
    12. Kameliia Petrova, 2012. "Part-time entrepreneurship and financial constraints: evidence from the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 473-493, September.
    13. Vicente Salas-Fumás & J. Sanchez-Asin & David Storey, 2014. "Occupational choice, number of entrepreneurs and output: theory and empirical evidence with Spanish data," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 1-24, March.
    14. 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.
    15. Vivarelli, Marco, 2012. "Drivers of entrepreneurship and post-entry performance : microeconomic evidence from advanced and developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6245, The World Bank.
    16. Vincenzo Quadrini, 2009. "Entrepreneurship in macroeconomics," Annals of Finance, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 295-311, June.
    17. Isabel Grilo & Roy Thurik, 2008. "Determinants of entrepreneurial engagement levels in Europe and the US," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 17(6), pages 1113-1145, December.
    18. Luis Medrano-Adán & Vicente Salas-Fumás & J. Sanchez-Asin, 2015. "Heterogeneous entrepreneurs from occupational choices in economies with minimum wages," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 597-619, March.
    19. Wim Naudé, 2007. "Peace, Prosperity, and Pro-Growth Entrepreneurship," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2007-02, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic development; Entrepreneurship; Human capital; Regional economics;
    All these keywords.

    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:unu:wpaper:rp2008-70. 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.html .

    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.