This paper revisits the two-equation model of Carree, van Stel, Thurik and Wennekers (2002) where deviations from the 'equilibrium' rate of business ownership play a central role determining both the growth of business ownership and that of economic development. Two extensions of the original...

In this report we investigated the development of business ownership (self-employment) rates over time at the sectoral level, and the effect these rates have on sectoral output growth. In an earlier exercise, Carree et al. (2002) presented a two-equation model to analyse the interrelationship...

Entrepreneurial activity is generally assumed to be an important aspect of the organization of industries most conducive to innovative activity and unrestrained competition. This paper investigates whether total entrepreneurial activity influences GDP growth for a sample of 36 countries. We test...

This paper investigates the dynamic relationship between self-employment and unemployment rates. On the one hand, high unemployment rates may lead to start-up activity of self-employed individuals (the 'refugee' effect). On the other hand, higher rates of self-employment may indicate increased...

The increased importance of knowledge as a source of competitiveness for modern economies suggests that the organization of industries most conducive to innovative activity and unrestrained competition will be linked to higher growth rates. Entrepreneurial activity is generally assumed to be an...

Bresnahan and Reiss (1991) derive entry thresholds for local markets but do not investigate actual entry and exit flows. This paper investigates for thirteen Belgian retail and consumer service industries whether markets with actual numbers of firms higher (lower) than the thresholds display...

Davis, Haltiwanger and Schuh (1996) claim to dissect the myth and reassess the facts on the job creation prowess of small businesses. We disagree with the authors. In this comment we discuss their five chief findings and conclusions and in particular, the use of a "regression-to-the-mean"...

In a recent paper Lichtenberg (1994) proposes a test of the convergence hypothesis that the variance of productivity across countries decreases over time. He argues that the ratio of the variance in the first period to that in the last period of the time series is F-distributed but overlooks the...

We develop a two equation error correction model to investigate determinants of and dynamic interaction between changes in profits and number of firms in retailing. An explicit distinction is made between the effects of actual competition among incumbents, new firms competition, and potential...

We examine the impact of internal and external R&D on labor productivity in a 6-year panel of 304 innovating firms. We apply a dynamic linear panel data model that allows for decreasing returns to scale in internal and external R&D with a non-linear approximation of changes in the knowledge...