Research

Understanding Entrepreneurship Dynamics

New firms play an important role in driving economic growth, implying that the understanding of entrepreneurship dynamics is a central question for academics and policy makers. In this study, a number of important issues are addressed: We study whether certain characteristics of entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial firms increase their likelihood of success, the importance of financial constrains for entrepreneurial entry, and the underlying causes for why women enter entrepreneurship to a lower extent than men do.

The research project "Understanding Entrepreneurship Dynamics" is funded by the The Rockwool Foundation.

New firms play an important role in driving economic growth, implying that the understanding of entrepreneurship dynamics is a central question for academics and policy makers. In this study, a number of important issues are addressed: We study whether certain characteristics of entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial firms increase their likelihood of success, the importance of financial constrains for entrepreneurial entry, and the underlying causes for why women enter entrepreneurship to a lower extent than men do.

Understanding entrepreneurship better is critical to designing policies aimed at creating more entry of new businesses and new businesses of higher quality. A useful laboratory in which to study entrepreneurship is the Danish economy as the Danish register data is of uniquely high quality relative to data available from other countries. Indeed, the backbone of this project is the Danish register data, where newly released registers on loans and deposits at the person/household level make the proposal even more relevant as it allows us to study financial constraints and entrepreneurship. Moreover, combining high-quality data with policy reforms targeting entrepreneurship, which have been implemented over the past decade, makes it possible to gain insight into yet unexplored territory of entrepreneurship. Insight that is highly relevant for entrepreneurship in the post COVID-19 society. Additionally, some of the analyses of the proposal will be performed with a more descriptive flavor to gain insight into the dynamics of entrepreneurship and business types.

Using Danish data and policy interventions, we expect to be able to provide answers to the following broad questions:

  • Do successful entrepreneurs have certain personal characteristics, or do their firms open under certain conditions, that policy-makers will find useful when designing policies to encourage or support nascent entrepreneurs?
  • Are financial constraints important for discouraging potential entrepreneurs from entry?
  • Why do women tend to enter entrepreneurship to a lower degree than males do?
The page was last edited by: Department of Economics // 12/08/2020