Correspondence: shiri.breznitz@utoronto.ca; chiara.marzocchi@unipd.it

Session’s theme and objectives

Entrepreneurship is an economic driver that is hardly disputed (Acs et al., 2008; Schumpeter, 1934; Stam et al., 2009) and has prompted geographers to study the relationship between entrepreneurship and place (Aoyama et al., 2011, p.57). The “geography of entrepreneurship” examines how geographical factors influence the frequency, quality, and location of entrepreneurial activities, recognizing that entrepreneurship is a spatially uneven process both in terms of new firm formation and innovation (Sternberg, 2022).

Studies in this area have investigated how geographical factors influence the likelihood of firms being started, their growth trajectory, and their survival rates. They found that regional culture, absorptive capacity, and human capital are all critical determinants for entrepreneurship (Fritsch and Wyrwich 2017; Spigel 2017; Qian et al 2013). As human capital externalities emerge where both local critical mass and regional absorptive capacity are locally available, non-metropolitan areas are disadvantaged compared to denser geographical locations such as cities (Kitagawa et al 2021). In addition, the entrepreneurial culture embedded in a place provides access to entrepreneurial capital facilitating both entrepreneurship creation and persistence (Acs et al., 2008).

While all these works provide insights on opportunities a place might offer, they tend to overlook entrepreneurship as enabler of regional resilience, that is: the role entrepreneurship might play in supporting regional economies with respect to dynamics of industrial transformation and job displacement (Tierney et al. 2024). For instance, an emerging literature has looked at the positive impacts of entrepreneurship in rural areas (e.g.: Korsgaard et al., 2015), or the shifting dynamics between necessity and opportunity one might face once starting her own business (Dencker et al. 2021).

This session aims to bridge these two perspectives by encouraging the submissions of papers that look at the nexus between entrepreneurship and regional resilience, and where entrepreneurship might be considered as an anchor and a driver for left-behind places. 

List of topics to be presented in the Special Session

• Personal Characteristics and Entrepreneurial Choices: how individual characteristics, such as personality, demographics, and education, interact with geographical factors to influence entrepreneurial choices and location decisions.
• Regional Context: emphasizing the importance of local conditions, including resources, infrastructure, social networks, and institutional frameworks, in shaping entrepreneurial opportunities OR how these promote entrepreneurship in regions with low access to resources (human, financial, and entrepreneurial capital).
• Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: analyzing the complex interplay of factors that support or hinder entrepreneurial activity in a specific geographic area. This might include a discussion of specific actors promoting entrepreneurship such as universities and their role in rural communities.

List of key references

Acs, Z.J., Desai, S. & Hessels, J.(2008).  Entrepreneurship, economic development and institutions. Small Bus Econ 31, 219–234

Aoyama, Y; Murphy, J. T.; & Hanson, S.  (2011).  “Key concepts in economic geography.” SAGE Publications Ltd.

David Audretsch & Marcel Hülsbeck & Erik Lehmann, 2012. “Regional competitiveness, university spillovers, and entrepreneurial activity,” Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(3), 587-601.

Dencker, J. C., Bacq, S., Gruber, M., & Haas, M. (2021). Reconceptualizing necessity entrepreneurship: A contextualized framework of entrepreneurial processes under the condition of basic needs. Academy of Management Review, 46(1), 60–79. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2018.0352

Fritsch, M. & Wyrwich, M. (2017). The effect of entrepreneurship on economic development—an empirical analysis using regional entrepreneurship culture, Journal of Economic Geography, 17 (1), 157-189.

Kitagawa, F., Marzocchi, C., Sánchez-Barrioluengo, M., & Uyarra, E. (2021). Anchoring talent to regions: the role of universities in graduate retention through employment and entrepreneurship. Regional Studies, 56(6), 1001–1014.

Korsgaard, S., Müller, S., & Tanvig, H. W. (2015). Rural entrepreneurship or entrepreneurship in the rural–between place and space. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, 21(1), 5-26.

Qian, H., Acs, Z. & Stough, R. (2013). Regional Systems of Entrepreneurship: The Nexus of Human Capital, Knowledge and New Firm Formation. Journal of Economic Geography, 13 (4), 559–587.

Schumpeter, J.A. (1934). “The Theory of Economic Development: An Inquiry into Profits, Capital, Credits, Interest, and the Business Cycle.” Transaction Publishers, Piscataway.

Spigel, B. (2017). The Relational Organization of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41 (1), 49-72.

Stam, E., Suddle, K., Hessels, J., Stel, A.v. (2009). High-Growth Entrepreneurs, Public Policies, and Economic Growth. In: Baptista, R., Leitao, J. (eds) “Public Policies for Fostering Entrepreneurship. International Studies in Entrepreneurship,” vol 22. Springer, New York, NY.

Sternberg, R. (2021). Entrepreneurship and geography—some thoughts about a complex relationship, The Annals of Regional Science, 69 ( 3), 559-584.

Tierney, J., Weller, S., Barnes, T., & Beer, A. (2024). Left-behind neighbourhoods in old industrial regions. Regional Studies, 58(6), 1192-1206.