Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0 Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers Creation-Date: 2001-08-02 Revision-Date: 2008-10-24 Number: 01-074/3 Author-Name: D.B. Audretsch Author-Workplace-Name: Indiana University, CEPR, and EIM Author-Name: M.A. Carree Author-Email: carree@few.eur.nl Author-Workplace-Name: CASBEC, Erasmus University Rotterdam, University Maastricht, and EIM Author-Name: A.R. Thurik Author-Email: thurik@few.eur.nl Author-Workplace-Name: CASBEC, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and EIM Title: Does Entrepreneurship reduce Unemployment? Abstract: In this paper, we develop two hypotheses: First, regional innovation efforts have a positive impact on regional knowledge based entrepreneurial activity. Second, knowledge based entrepreneurship positively affects regional economic performance. We test these hypotheses using county level data from West Germany, employing a structural equation model to analyze the relationships between latent variables. Our empirical analysis provides evidence supporting both hypotheses. In particular, our results suggest that innovation efforts have an indirect effect on economic performance via entrepreneurship. This indirect effect is neglected in existing empirical studies focusing on the direct effect of innovation on economic performance.

See also 'Does Self-Employment reduce Unemployment?' in the 'Journal of Business Venturing', 23(6), 2008, 673-86, by A. Roy Thurik, Martin A. Carree, Andre van Stel, David B. Audretsch. Classification-JEL: L11; M13; O11 Keywords: entrepreneurship; unemployment; economic development; Gibrat's Law File-Url: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/01074.pdf File-Format: application/pdf File-Size: 110565 bytes Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20010074