Population growth and regional economy: an empirical analysis of business formation and job

The relationship between prior and subsequent new venture creation in the United States: A county level analysis

“…Natural increase is an indicator of marriage and family formation and thus tends to be associated with the stability and embeddedness of a population as well as demand conditions in a county (Chrisman, 1985). Studies have found a strong association between natural increase and new venture creation, particularly in rural communities (Armington and Acs, 2002;Chrisman, 1985;Chrisman et al, 1992;Lee et al, 2004).…”

“…Furthermore, as is the case for natural increase, net migration can positively affect demand conditions in a county (Chrisman, 1985). Several studies have shown that net migration is positively related to new venture creation (Bull and Winter, 1991;Chrisman, 1985;Chrisman et al, 1992;Dennis, 1986).…”

“…In an effort to partially compensate for this limitation, we control for the characteristics of a county's population and geography. These controls are appropriate because the results of previous research suggests that in the aggregate, the population and geographic characteristics of a region influence new venture creation (e.g., Bull and Winter, 1991;Chrisman, 1985;Chrisman et al, 1992).…”

“…Following prior research (Armington and Acs, 2002;Chrisman, 1985;Chrisman et al, 1992;Lee et al, 2004), we collected data from Profiles of America to measure the rate of population growth by natural increase in each county from 1990 to 2000 (births minus deaths divided by the population in 1990). Natural increase is an indicator of marriage and family formation and thus tends to be associated with the stability and embeddedness of a population as well as demand conditions in a county (Chrisman, 1985).…”

“…It is important to note that we operationalize the concept of community at the county level of analysis because many public policy and planning decisions occur at that level in the U.S. Utilizing counties as the unit of analysis also allows us to study both rural and metropolitan communities (Chrisman, 1985;Chrisman et al, 1992), thus providing a more complete representation of new venture creation activities than previous studies conducted at the individual or regional level.…”