Attractors of entrepreneurial activity: Universities, regions, and alumni entrepreneurs

Anders Broström (1) , Apostolos Baltzopoulos (1)

1 Division of Economics

This paper investigates how universities may affect regional entrepreneurship through the localisation decisions of entrepreneurial alumni. Empirically a comprehensive, individual-level dataset from Sweden for the period 2003-2005 is employed. The results suggest that even when controlling for their spatial history, individuals have an increased propensity to set up in the region where they studied. This effect is found to substitute for both urbanisation economies and localisation economies as drivers of regional-level entrepreneurship. Thus, the present analysis provides evidence on how universities affect regional economic development that complements the strong focus on spin-off activities by university researchers in previous studies.

Mots clés: Social Sciences & Humanities

Domaines: Science politique

Anders Broström, Apostolos Baltzopoulos. Attractors of entrepreneurial activity: Universities, regions, and alumni entrepreneurs. Regional Studies, 2011, pp.1. ⟨10.1080/00343404.2011.602335⟩. ⟨hal-00738303⟩