REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN ENTRE PRENEURSHIP IN THE U.K

In: Scottish journal of political economy: the journal of the Scottish Economic Society, Band 34, Heft 2, S. 161-173

Abstract

THE SMALL FIRM IS INCREASINGLY VIEWED BY GOVERNMENTS THROUGHOUT THE WESTERN WORLD AS A MAJOR SOURCE OF NEW JOBS. THE NEW FIRM IS THE PARTICULAR FOCUS OF ATTENTION BY POLICY-MAKERS SINCE IT IS VIEWED AS BOTH THE DYNAMIC COMPONENT OF THE SMALL FIRM SECTOR AND ONE WHICH IS AMENABLE TO PUBLIC POLICY. IT IS DEMONSTRATED IN THIS PAPER THAT SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES EXIST BETWEEN U.K. REGIONS IN TERMS OF SOME ASPECTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP, WHICH IS DEFINED TO BE PARTLY REFLECTED IN DIFFERENCES IN BIRTH RATES OF NEW FIRMS. THE AUTHORS CONTEND THAT SINCE THE CURRENTLY PROSPEROUS REGIONS ARE THE MOST ENTREPRENEURIAL, EVEN IN THE ABSENCE OF ANY EXPLICIT PUBLIC POLICY TO PROMOTE SMALL FIRMS, THEN THE HIGHER THE PROPORTION OF ALL NEW JOBS WHICH ARE CREATED BY THE NEW AND SMALL FIRM SECTOR THE GREATER WILL BE THE GAP BETWEEN THE PROSPEROUS AND THE LESS PROSPEROUS REGIONS. HOWEVER, SINCE THERE IS AN INCREASINGLY ACTIVE PUBLIC POLICY DESIGNED TO CREATE JOBS IN THE SMALL FIRM SECTOR WHICH DOES NOT HAVE ANY EXPLICIT REGIONAL DIMENSION, THE PAPER SHOWS THAT CURRENT POLICY INITIATIVES SERVE TO REINFORCE EXISTING DIFFERENCES. IN SHORT SMALL FIRM POLICY INSTRUMENTS ARE REGIONALLY DIVISIVE.