The Persistence of Regional New Business Formation-Activity over Time - Assessing the Potential of Policy Promotion Programs

We investigate regional differences in the level and the development of regional new business formation activity. There is a pronounced variance of start-up rates across the regions. The level of regional new firm formation is rather path-dependent so that changes are relatively small. The main factors determining the level of regional start-ups are innovation and entrepreneurship. These factors also seem to be responsible for changes in the level of regional new business formation. In addition, unemployment plays a role..