2016/02/05 by Michael Fritsch, Michael Wyrwich · 1 citation
Business, Management and Accounting · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences #Firm Innovation and Growth #Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
paper · doi:10.1093/jeg/lbv049
openalex publication_date 2016/02/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
We use the historical self-employment rate as an indicator of a regional culture of entrepreneurship and take it as an instrument to analyze the effect of entrepreneurship on economic growth in recent periods. The results indicate that German regions with a high level of entrepreneurship in the mid-1920s have higher start-up rates about 50 years later. Thus, a regional culture of entrepreneurship is an important resource for the persistence of entrepreneurship. Furthermore, we find that there is a significant effect of start-up activity on regional employment growth when using entrepreneurship culture as instrument for start-up activity.