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The ever-changing socioeconomic conditions for entrepreneurship

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Abstract

This paper explores spatial and temporal contexts for entrepreneurship at both the regional and country level in Spain during three different periods from 2002 to 2018. Using institutional data, we find significant differences in the conditions influencing new firm formation rates by regions. Such variations in firm formation rates are mainly explained by unemployment and economic stagnation in the presence of high population density before and during the economic crisis periods. However, human capital greatly determines entrepreneurship starting in 2015. This study illustrates how a contextualized view of entrepreneurship contributes to our understanding of this phenomenon. As a result, our work enriches our understanding of the dynamic socioeconomic drivers motivating entrepreneurial action.

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  1. INE: Instituto Nacional de Estadística.

  2. DIRCE: Directorio Central de Empresas, INE.

  3. MECD. Ministry of education and professional training. Provides indicators related to contextual factors that can influence the activity and education situation.

  4. INE: The National Statistics Institute is a legally independent administrative Autonomous institution assigned to the Ministry of Economy and Business, via the Secretary of State for the Economy and Business Support.

  5. DIRCE. Central directory of companies brings together in a unique information system all Spanish companies and their local units located in the national territory. It includes all economic activities except Agriculture and Fisheries, Public Administration, Defense and Compulsory Social Security, the activities of households that employ domestic personnel and Extraterritorial Organizations.

  6. EFPA. The Economically Active Population Survey (EAPS) has been conducted since 1964. The current methodology has been used since 2005.This continuous and quarterly research is aimed at families, intended to collect data on the labor force and its various categories (employed, unemployed) as well as on the population outside the labor market (inactive). The initial sample is taken from about 65,000 families per quarter, equivalent to approximately 160,000.

  7. CRE. The Spanish Regional Accounts (SRA) is a statistical operation that the INE has been carrying out conducted since 1980 and whose main objective is to provide a quantified, systematic and as complete a description as possible of the regional economic activity in Spain (Autonomous Communities and provinces), during the considered reference period. This information allows the analysis and evaluation of the structure and development of the regional economies and serves as a statistical base for the design, execution, and monitoring of regional policies. The regional accounts are a specification of the national accounts; that is, the Spanish National Accounts (SNA) are the conceptual and quantitative framework in which the SRA is integrated.

  8. Population figures provide a quantitative measurement of the population resident in Spain, in each autonomous community. Population series since 1971, which is obtained from the intercensal estimates of the population, for the period 1971–2012, and from the operation Population figures itself, as of 2012. The Register of inhabitants of May 1, 1996 of the I.N.E. it is the source of information for the calculation of the indicators in table 1.1: Population density; Percentage of population from 0 to 29 years and territorial extension.

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Correspondence to Mabel Pisá-Bó.

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Pisá-Bó, M., López-Muñoz, J.F. & Novejarque-Civera, J. The ever-changing socioeconomic conditions for entrepreneurship. Int Entrep Manag J 17, 1335–1355 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-020-00737-z

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