Regional Trajectories of Entrepreneurship, Knowledge, and Growth

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Michael Fritsch, Michael Wyrwich

   Pages 1-4

3. Entrepreneurship Culture and Regional Development

   • Michael Fritsch, Michael Wyrwich

   Pages 5-13

4. Setting the Stage: Self-Employment and New Business Formation in Germany 1907, 1925 and Today

   • Michael Fritsch, Michael Wyrwich

   Pages 15-25

5. The Persistence of Regional Entrepreneurship

   • Michael Fritsch, Michael Wyrwich

   Pages 27-46

6. The Case of East Germany

   • Michael Fritsch, Michael Wyrwich

   Pages 47-68

7. Regional Entrepreneurship Culture and Growth

   • Michael Fritsch, Michael Wyrwich

   Pages 69-94

8. The Role of Knowledge

   • Michael Fritsch, Michael Wyrwich

   Pages 95-117

9. Traditions of Self-Employment and the Entrepreneurial Personality Profile of the Population

   • Michael Fritsch, Michael Wyrwich

   Pages 119-131

10. Summary and Outlook: What Can Be Learned?

    • Michael Fritsch, Michael Wyrwich

    Pages 133-141

11. Back Matter

    Pages 143-144

    PDF

This book offers a dynamic perspective on regional entrepreneurship, knowledge, innovation and economic growth, with a particular focus on the role that history and culture play. The authors provide comprehensive empirical analyses offering unique insights into the spatial patterns of long-term differences of regional self-employment, new business formation, cultures of entrepreneurship, innovation activities, and development. Policy implications from the analyses and a discussion of important avenues for future research complete this unique book combining history, culture, and entrepreneurship.


This is a superb book with an original, historical take on entrepreneurship and regional development. It is a landmark study on Germany showing that regional levels of entrepreneurship are persistent and resilient, despite many disruptive shocks.


Ron Boschma, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and Stavanger University, Norway


This book presents the distilled wisdom of two leading authorities on the link between entrepreneurship and economic prosperity at a regional level. Although its prime empirical focus is on Germany there are clear lessons for scholars and policy-makers in all high-income countries.


David J Storey, University of Sussex, UK

• Persistence of regional entrepreneurship
• Regional entrepreneurial culture
• Histories of regional entrepreneurship
• Persistence in social capital
• Self-employment trajectories
• Regional start-up activities
• Geography of entrepreneurship
• Industry structure, entrepreneurship and culture
• Entrepreneurial culture and innovative start-ups
• Socioeconomic heritage
• Historical social research on entrepreneurship

“Fritsch and Wyrwich have written a book with exemplar empirical studies on the role of entrepreneurship culture in the long-term evolution of regional economies. … This context provides an excellent testing ground for hypotheses about the culture–entrepreneurship–growth nexus. … These books substantially expand our scientific and practical

knowledge about entrepreneurial ecosystems, start-up communities and entrepreneurship cultures. … Good research not only provides answers but also raises new questions. These two books certainly do.” (Erik Stam,Regional Studies, Vol. 57 (4), 2023)

“‘Regional Trajectories of Entrepreneurship, Knowledge, and Growth: The Role of History and Culture’ takes the reader on an empirical journey exploring how and why cultural factors related to entrepreneurship vary across regions, as well as how these variations impact upon rates of regional economic development. … the concept of ‘entrepreneurial ecosystems’ has become a fashionable and potentially enduring means of understanding the components in places, especially regions, that impact upon on entrepreneurship.” (Robert Huggins, Papers in Regional Science, Vol. 98 (3), June, 2019)

• Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany

  Michael Fritsch

• University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

  Michael Wyrwich

Michael Fritsch is Senior Professor of Economics at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany, and Research Professor at the Halle Institute for Economic Reseach (IWH). He is also Associate Editor of the academic journals Regional Studies and Small Business Economics. Michael Fritsch has received his degrees in economics (Diplom Volkswirt, Ph.D., Habilitation) from the Technical University of Berlin. From 1992-2006, he was Professor of Economics and Chair of Economic Policy, at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, and from 2006-2018 he was Chair of Business Dynamics, Innovation, and Economic Change at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The main fields of his recent research are entrepreneurship and innovation. His publications comprise several hundred articles in scholarly journals and in edited volumes as well as diverse books. 



Michael Wyrwich is Interim Full Professor for Business Dynamics, Innovation, and Economic Changeat the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany. He serves as member of the editorial board of the academic journal Review of Regional Research and as a member of the editorial review board of Small Business Economics. Michael Wyrwich has received his degrees in economics (Diplom Volkswirt, Ph.D., Habilitation) from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The main fields of his recent research are entrepreneurship. His publications comprise more than 30 articles in scholarly journals and in edited volumes. 

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