Cultural diversity and entrepreneurship: a regional analysis for Germany

By David B. Audretsch, D. Dohse, Annekatrin Niebuhr. 2010

294 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In this paper, we investigate the determinants of entrepreneurial activity in a cross section of German regions for the period 1998–2005. Departing from the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship, the focus of our analysis is on the role of the regional environment and, in particular, knowledge and cultural diversity. Our main hypothesis is that both, knowledge and diversity, have a positive impact on new firm formation. As the determinants of regional firm birth rates might differ considerably with respect to the necessary technology and knowledge input, we consider start-ups at different technology levels. The regression results indicate that regions with a high level of knowledge provide more opportunities for entrepreneurship than other regions. Moreover, while sectoral diversity tends to dampen new firm foundation, cultural diversity has a positive impact on technology oriented start-ups. This suggests that the diversity of people is more conducive to entrepreneurship than the diversity of firms. Thus, regions characterized by a high level of knowledge and cultural diversity form an ideal breeding ground for technology oriented start-ups.

Subfields: Economics and Econometrics, Management of Technology and Innovation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/79485c0161e252ccb5462ac8f7a80be77d9d7bea

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Citations in the corpus

Rural entrepreneurship or entrepreneurship in the rural – between place and space (2015, background): “Although rural labour may typically be less skilled and educated (Audretsch et al., 2010) they may well be more loyal, compliant, adaptive, and in possession of a strong work ethic (Kalantaridis and Bika, 2006a, Jensen-Butler, 1992).”
Knowledge context and entrepreneurial intentions among students (2012, background): “Note that, whereas several papers have related regional R&D measures to actual start-ups (e.g., Acs et al. 2009 or Audretsch et al. 2010), this is—to the best of our knowledge—the first time that regional R&D investment is related to entrepreneurial intentions.”
Cultural Diversity and Plant‐Level Productivity (2015, background): “Other studies at the establishment or firm level mostly focus on other outcomes such as patenting activities (see Ozgen et al. 2011, Audretsch et al. 2010, Chellaraj et al. 2008), thereby contributing to the related discussion how diversity affects innovation (also see Niebuhr 2010 and Nathan 2011).”
A progress review of entrepreneurship and regional development: What are the remaining gaps? (2016, background): “Creating Entrepreneurship capital, Entrepreneurial ‘thinking’ or culture in region, Entrepreneurial identity + Audretsch and Keilbach (2004b), Gaddefors and Cronsell (2009), Aoyama (2009), Audretsch and Keilbach (2007), Audretsch et al.”
Beyond environmental scarcity: Human and social capital as driving forces of bootstrapping activities (2014, unknown): “For instance, Munich is one of the most prosperous regions in Germany while Berlin is at the opposite end of the spectrum (Audretsch et al., 2010).”
Knowledge-Based Regional Economic Development: A Synthetic Review of Knowledge Spillovers, Entrepreneurship, and Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (2018, background): “Measuring diversity based on countries of origin, Audretsch et al. (2010) and Qian (2013) reported a positive association between diversity and knowledge spillover entrepreneurship in German and U.S. regions.”
Regional systems of entrepreneurship: the nexus of human capital, knowledge and new firm formation (2013, background): “Empirical evidence of this relationship has been found by Audretsch et al. (2010).”
Migrant and ethnic diversity, cities and innovation: Firm effects or city effects? (2015, background): “, 2008; Audretsch et al., 2010; Niebuhr, 2010). Diverse cities may have concentrations of creative staff (Florida, 2002), a wider range of The Author (2014). Published by Oxford University Press.”
Creative industries, new business formation, and regional economic growth (2009, background): “In fact, the empirical evidence shows that cultural diversity has a positive impact on entrepreneurship ( Audretsch et al. 2010 ).”