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This paper analyzes the emerging performance and early development of new establishments considering the role of agglomerations. It creates distinctions between the most commonly observed types of new businesses, namely startups, spinoffs, and new establishments that result from a change in proprietorship. The empirical analysis reveals that new establishments with higher productivity emerge in regions with higher population density, regardless of the foundation type. While at the end of the time period analyzed, new establishments in more densely populated regions still show higher productivity levels than those in less densely populated regions, an agglomeration's role depends on the foundation type. Indeed, while spinoffs in more densely populated regions tend to reflect the higher productivity levels shown in the first time period, the productivity premium of startups in agglomerations diminishes over time. This analysis emphasizes the relevance of location for the setup and early development of new ventures and, more importantly, the varying role of agglomerations conditioned by the characteristics of new businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although economies of scale are relatively well studied in the arts, economies of scope have received less attention. Yet recent trends toward freelancing and technological connectivity make scope economies especially timely in addressing structural challenges to artist-led incubators. This paper offers a conceptual framework for cooperative strategies that employ economies of scope both in the economic sense of joint production and in the financial sense of risk pooling. This framework distinguishes franchise, federation, and resource-sharing organizational structures as developed through case studies of two US-based organizations: ArtBuilt and REC (Resources for Every Creator), placed in a larger context of cooperative organizational strategy in the USA and Europe. The proposed strategies of cooperative networks (quasi-franchises, federations, or resource-sharing networks) also draw on a literature of spatial agglomeration in creative industries. The framework leads to more speculative ideas of "balance-sheet philanthropy" through credit backstopping by foundations, and of novel investment trusts that can be piloted across a range organizations including foundations, grant-makers, artist residency programs, and even for-profit companies engaged in reinsurance. The paper contributes managerial tools and strategies for the creative engagement of capacity building in arts organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to fill the literature gap regarding sustainable entrepreneurship viewed through geographical clustering lenses by examining how institutional factors such as local entrepreneurship and innovation climates, knowledge networks, policies, resource availability, and awareness affect entrepreneurial firm formation in the USA. Drawing from various theoretical views within the interdisciplinary literature on the topic, we develop cross-cluster hypotheses regarding firm formation and geographic clustering of clean-technology companies. We test them using a negative binomial random effects model in a panel sample of US clean-technology startup firms and find general support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we put forward a four-region new economic geography footloose entrepreneur model in which regions are differentiated by their size and their geographical position along a line. There are two distinct trade blocs, each of them consisting of a pair of regions. Direct and indirect trade between all regions is allowed, whereas factor mobility can occur only between regions of the same bloc. Given this more general geographical structure, as compared to previous studies, we are able to disentangle two manifestations of the market access effect: firms can take advantage of locating both in a more central region (centrality effect) and/or in a bigger region (local market size effect). The model is able to generate a plethora of long-term outcomes, including four equilibria with full agglomeration in each trade bloc that can be ranked by factor owners. Equilibria where industry is dispersed or agglomerated in a bloc and dispersed in the other one, are also possible as well as more complex attractors. Finally, by allowing direct and indirect trade between regions, we are able to look at the effect of trade integration on transit traffic by evaluating in a preliminary analysis the consequences of policies aiming at limiting transport volumes in a model with shifting industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of entrepreneurship varies not only across regions but also among industries. Using a unique panel dataset of 60 two-digit industries across 64 provinces from 2000 to 2010 in Vietnam, we investigate the importance of spatial and sectoral heterogeneity in an analysis of the determinants of entrepreneurship and empirically explore the interaction effect of geographic conditions and industry dynamism. Overall, our results confirm the significance of industry structural variables and their joint effect with geographic conditions in fostering new firm formation. Particularly, (i) growth-driven entries are generally higher in provinces that offer higher salaries; (ii) technology-intensive industries within regions that have strong knowledge spillover effects are appealing to new entries. Others noteworthy findings include: (i) 'necessity entrepreneurship' is prevalent in Vietnam, but limited to extractive and service industries that are typically labor intensive; (ii) firms tend to concentrate more in agglomerated locations. This effect, however, evaporates for high-tech industries; and (iii) industry profitability and niche dynamism all play a crucial role in stimulating new start-ups. We apply the system generalized method of moments to obtain empirical evidence in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a self-collected longitudinal dataset that comprehends the population of academic spinoffs created in Portugal from 1995 until 2007 we investigate to what extent these firms are geographically clustered and the determinants of their geographical distribution at the time of their formation. We focus on university and agglomeration economies-related mechanisms at the municipality level. Our results show that overall academic spinoffs do not exhibit a tendency to cluster, nevertheless some local clusters do exist. Additionally, our findings show that the presence of university incubators and/or university research parks is the most relevant university-related mechanism, whereas regarding agglomeration economies all seem to be important to explain academic spinoffs distribution across municipalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction to the special issue 'The Geography of Innovation and Entrepreneurship' in the Annals of Regional Science surveys a collection of nine papers which consider agglomeration economies and spatial heterogeneity of regions and firms through the lenses of innovation and entrepreneurship. They all make use of extensive and detailed data sources that enable models to provide a richer picture of how firms, industries and regions are affected by innovation and entrepreneurship but also how these entities shape and foster renewal. These factors include spatial concentration, industry composition, labor market characteristics, immigration, firm characteristics, R&D activities and R&D collaboration. The papers add to the understanding of the geography of innovation and entrepreneurship by suggesting alternative ways of identifying spillovers, combing and integrating internal and external knowledge sources, and by estimating the impact on innovation, new firm formation and growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constructs a footloose entrepreneur model with Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides job search and matching frictions in the manufacturing sector. It captures unemployment adjustment both within the manufacturing sector and in the regional labor market. The within-sector unemployment rate is negatively affected by firm market access and is positively related to the intensity of firm screening among heterogeneous candidate workers. The regional unemployment rate, on the other hand, is related to the sectoral share of job searching across sectors within each region. We find the coexistence of a smaller within-sector unemployment rate and a larger local unemployment rate in the region with firm agglomeration. We also extend the analysis by examining the role of labor market frictions across sectors and the interdependence between agglomeration and unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We test whether new firms locate close to incumbent firms of the same industry. Tendencies to coagglomerate may explain the general wisdom that industry location is highly persistent over time. We perform separate analysis for East and West Germany which enables us to study two integrated areas that have been characterized by different conditions in the period under study. A comparison of actual coagglomeration patterns with counterfactual patterns reveals that about 40 percent of the West German industries show coagglomeration patterns. In East Germany, coagglomeration between new and incumbent firms is prevalent in only 5 percent of the industries. The considerably lower degree of coagglomeration in East Germany may be due to a higher level of spatial reallocation within industries during the transformation from a socialist regime to a market economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the determinants of business creation as a measure of entrepreneurship in European cities. It examined supply- and demand-side elements, actual and equilibrium rates of entrepreneurship, institutions and culture. These components were characterized using a dataset consisting of 21 indicators drawn from 184 cities in 20 European countries during the years 1999-2010. The study found that city size, self-employment, and tertiary education have a significant and positive impact on the number of new businesses registered. The implications of these findings are discussed in view of the European Commission's Small Business Act, which provides guidelines for the conception and implementation of entrepreneurship policies in the European Union. This paper's main contribution lies in the differentiation of factors that are context-specific (e.g., city-size) and others that can be influenced by policy (e.g., tertiary education). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One reason firms exist is to serve as knowledge repositories. Firms compete against other firms and need profits to survive. Firms must be entrepreneurial to discover and act on profit opportunities. Knowledge required to spot profit opportunities is disbursed among economic actors and often is tacit knowledge that can only be obtained by those in close proximity. This gives rise to agglomeration economies, which can be leveraged within firms. In a competitive economy people have an incentive to keep knowledge from people in other firms, but to share it with those in their firm. One role of the firm is to act as a repository of knowledge for those within the firm's boundaries, and to lower the cost of obtaining knowledge about profit opportunities. Entrepreneurs need firms to contain and capture the profits from their innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of regional determinants in new entrepreneurs' location decisions is analyzed in the French information and communication technologies (ICT) sector. As we focus on the emergence of this industry, our dataset includes every new ICT firm in France in the period 1993-2001. We find evidence for the positive effect of co-location with incumbent ICT firms and some effect of knowledge spillovers. The effects of agglomeration, entrepreneurial capital and human capital are mixed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Networking has been established as an important source of small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) business expansion in many developed economies. Often, it provides the necessary intelligence leading to internationalization. The question this study addresses is 'What are the roles and sources of networking of SMEs internationalization in emerging economies?' This study responds to this query through a dyadic study involving expert-opinion survey of SME development professionals and case studies of SMEs internationalization. The convergent views identified three interconnected sources of networking for SMEs internationalization, which are government institutions, business associates, and personal relations. The results affirmed that accomplishment of internationalization requires cohesion among the myriads of networking sources and operating agencies. A systems approach towards supporting the creation and management of networking linkages for internationalization combines systems thinking perspective with institutional view. It emphasizes integration of coordination, facilitation, and monitoring functions. Thus, suggesting institutional support and systems thinking are important constructs in the theory of international entrepreneurship. Policy makers and entrepreneurs of SMEs gain actionable points to ensure effectiveness of institutional support mechanism and to enhance their business internationalization, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]