Location Decisions of Technology-Based Entrepreneurs : Why Some Catalan KISAs Choose to Be Rural?

Entrepreneurship has currently become an important element of economic, employment and innovation policy. In this context, the promotion of technology-based firms has become the norm, even in rural areas. Thus, the study presented in this paper analyses the variables that influence the choice of location made by rural and urban Knowledge Intensive Service Activity firms (KISA, hereafter), taking as reference three of the most common theoretical frameworks used to analyse location decision-making: neoclassical, institutional, and behavioural. The results of the quantitative study allows for important policy making recommendations, but also offers significant contributions for entrepreneurship and regional development researchers, as well as practical insights for entrepreneurs