Socio-spatial culture and entrepreneurship: some theoretical and empirical observations

摘要

Entrepreneurship is increasingly acknowledged as an important factor underlying uneven economic geographies. Similarly, spatial patterns of entrepreneurship are increasingly considered to relate to the nature of the culture present within particular places. However, the nature of these relationships remains relatively unexplored, and this study addresses some of the gaps through both a theoretical and empirical examination of the association between socio-spatial culture and entrepreneurship. It develops the notion of community culture, and drawing on an analysis of data from localities in Great Britain it is found that a range of dimensions of socio-spatial community culture relating to social cohesion, collective action and social rules are found to be significantly associated with local entrepreneurial activity. Generally, localities in more economically developed regions are found to display more individualistic and diverse cultures. It is concluded that the findings represent a significant challenge for policymaking in less developed localities and regions, which generally have socio-spatial cultures high in communal and collective values but low rates of entrepreneurship.