The impact of regional age structure on entrepreneurship

Werner Bönte (boente@wiwi.uni-wuppertal.de), Oliver Falck and Stephan Heblich

Munich Reprints in Economics from University of Munich, Department of Economics

Abstract: Empirical studies based on individual data have found an inverse U-shaped relationship between age and the decision to start a business. Other studies have shown that becoming an entrepreneur is a regional event, with potential entrepreneurs benefiting from their local networks. This article links both strands of literature by introducing age-specific peer effects. Using changes in the age distribution of the population of western German regions over time, we found-in accordance with microlevel analyses-an inverse U-shaped relationship between the regional age structure and start-up activity in a region. Moreover, our findings suggest that the age-specific likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur changes with the size of the age cohort, pointing to the existence of age-specific peer effects.

Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (69)

Published in Economic Geography 3 85(2009): pp. 269-287

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Impact of Regional Age Structure on Entrepreneurship (2009)
Journal Article: The Impact of Regional Age Structure on Entrepreneurship (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:lmu:muenar:20201

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