Determinants of Growth in Entrepreneurship Across U.S. Labor Markets, 1970-2006

摘要

This study explores the factors important in determining growth in the number of entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial share of total employment across regions, time, and by groups based on age, gender, and industry. The variation among regions has important implications for regional development. Entrepreneurs play a crucial role in facilitating 'knowledge spillovers' in local economies, by bringing new ideas (sometimes generated in large firms that decide not to pursue them) to the market. These new ideas potentially benefit all firms in the community. Further, more entrepreneurial regions exhibit faster employment growth. This paper explores the trends and examines the factors determining growth in entrepreneurship within labor market areas (LMAs) in terms of the number of entrepreneurs and their share of LMA employment in the United States over three and a half decades from 1970 to 2006. We explore regional differences in entrepreneurship across U.S. LMA's and we also examine the determinants of entrepreneurship in specific demographic and industry subgroups from 2000 to 2006.