Mapping entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurial attitudes in European regions

Understanding regional variation in entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurial attitude in Europe

“…It is now widely recognized that regional variation in entrepreneurship is significant and persistent, and often even exceeds national differences (Sternberg 2004;Fritsch and Mueller 2006;Tamásy 2006;Bosma and Schutjens 2009a). This applies to both entrepreneurial attitude and actual entrepreneurial activity.…”

“…Observed actual entrepreneurship rates, whether early stage entrepreneurship and established business rates, show high regional variation. Bosma and Schutjens (2009a) have shown that especially the prevalence rate of nascent and young businesses varies widely across regions. Entrepreneurial attitudes, which at the individual level are captured by a combination of fear of failure, the perception of regional start-up opportunities and having knowledge and skills to set up a firm, also differ between regions.…”

“…In an earlier study, the spatial patterns of the indices of entrepreneurial attitude and activity in EU countries and regions are mapped and discussed (Bosma and Schutjens 2009a). What is missing thus far is the understanding of the spatial patterns of both entrepreneurial attitude and activity.…”

Culture, entrepreneurship and uneven development: a spatial analysis

“…However, it is not just at the national level that differences have been found in entrepreneurial activity rates, but also across regions (Reynolds et al, 1994;Armington and Acs, 2002;Bosma and Schutjens, 2009), and even within regions differences have been found that persist over time (Gould and Keeble, 1984;Mueller et al, 2008). One explanation that has been proposed is the presence of differing cultures that are more or less suited to the encouragement and propagation of entrepreneurial activities (Blanchflower, 2000;Freytag and Thurik, 2007).…”

Micro-foundations for Innovation Policy

“…The literature on entrepreneurship has shown that two of the necessary conditions of entrepreneurship are the (perceived) skills and knowledge to start a business and the (perceived) opportunities to start a business. With respect to entrepreneurial skills, the Netherlands adult population is rather average within Europe (Bosma and Schutjens 2008), while with ■ young high growth firms (1999)(2000)(2001) ■ high growth firms (1999)(2000)(2001)(2002) respect to opportunities, the Netherlands seems to be relatively abundant (Bosma and Schutjens 2008). Another aspect of national culture that is often seen as a major constraint to entrepreneurship in Europe in comparison to the us, is the so-called fear of failure.…”