The entrepreneurial gains from market integration in the new EU member states

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of economic integrations on entrepreneurial outcomes. The study bridges a gap between the literature on entrepreneurship and trade by exploring how international trade and global value chain (GVC) integration influence the share of start-ups and high-growth firms in manufacturing industries in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) member states of the European Union (EU) during the 2011-2016 period. Exports, imports and forward GVC participation increase the share of start-ups and high-growth firms and these effects are evident in low and high technology intensive industries. The effects of trade and GVC integration are more pronounced among the first group of CEE that joined the EU than among latecomers.