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Publications
  • January 2010
  • Article
  • Journal of Urban Economics

Clusters of Entrepreneurship

By: Edward L. Glaeser, William R. Kerr and Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:19
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Abstract

Employment growth is strongly predicted by smaller average establishment size, both across cities and across industries within cities, but there is little consensus on why this relationship exists. Traditional economic explanations emphasize factors that reduce entry costs or raise entrepreneurial returns, thereby increasing net returns and attracting entrepreneurs. A second class of theories hypothesizes that some places are endowed with a greater supply of entrepreneurship. Evidence on sales per worker does not support the higher returns for entrepreneurship rationale. Our evidence suggests that entrepreneurship is higher when fixed costs are lower and when there are more entrepreneurial people.

Keywords

Economic Growth; Entrepreneurship; Cost; Employment; Market Entry and Exit

Citation

Glaeser, Edward L., William R. Kerr, and Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto. "Clusters of Entrepreneurship." Journal of Urban Economics 67, no. 1 (January 2010): 150–168.
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About The Author

William R. Kerr

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

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  • Immigrant Entrepreneurship: New Estimates and a Research Agenda By: Saheel Chodavadia, Sari Pekkala Kerr, William R. Kerr and Louis Maiden
  • Careers of Minimum Wage Workers By: Sari Pekkala Kerr, William R. Kerr and Louis Maiden
  • Will Fintechs and Central Banks Play in Emtech's Sandbox? By: Daniel Isenberg and William R. Kerr
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