Regional Entrepreneurial Heritage in a Socialist and a Post-Socialist Economy

This paper sheds light on regional differences of self-employment in a socialist economy on the eve of its transition toward a market economy and differences with regard to start-up activities after transition. It shows that regions with a long entrepreneurial tradition have higher self-employment rates than regions where these traditions played only a minor role before the introduction of a socialist centrally planned economy. These regions have also higher start-up rates after transition. It seems entirely likely that some regions have a certain entrepreneurial heritage that is an important resource embedded in the region. Even the introduction of socialism did not eradicate or reverse the geography of private sector activity. It is recommended that policy should stimulate and activate region-specific entrepreneurial potentials to attain a sustainable regional development.Entrepreneurial Culture; Transition

Knowledge intensive Entrepreneurship across regions: Makes being a new industry a difference?

This paper investigates regional sources of entrepreneurial opportunities of knowledge-intensive start-up activity. Thereby it is investigated whether it makes a difference if the knowledge-intensive sector is a newly emerging industry compared to the case where its location across space could develop already over a long period of time. The analysis is on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in East and West Germany in the 1990s. At the time of German re-unification in 1990s in the former socialist East Germany no KIBS sector existed in contrast to West Germany. The findings indicate that being new to the region makes a difference.

Socioeconomic heritage and rapid firm growth

The present paper sheds light on how growth of young firms is affected by expansive strategies and the socioeconomic heritage of their main actors. "Socioeconomic heritage" has to do with socialization, prior socioeconomic circumstances, and regional growth conditions; the term is elaborated upon and further defined in this study. The empirical analysis is carried out both for West Germany - a mature market economy - and for East Germany, which operated under a centrally planned economy until German reunification in 1990. The main finding of the paper is that the involvement of West Germans in East German start-ups has a favourable effect on these firms' chances to grow rapidly. This effect is attributed to the fact that West Germans are more likely to possess person-related and situation-related factors necessary for growing a business in a market economy. The results are more ambiguous as to the influence of expansive strategies on fast growth.Entrepreneurship, Rapid firm growth, Strategy, Management, West Germany, East Germany

Migration restrictions and long-term regional development:Evidence from large-scale expulsions of Germans after World War II

This article investigates the long-run impact of a migration barrier on regional development. The analysis is based on the large-scale expulsion of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe after World War II (WWII). Expellees were not allowed to resettle in the French occupation zone in the first years after the War while there was no such legislation in the other occupation zones (USA; UK; Soviet Union). The temporary migration barrier had long-lasting consequences. In a nutshell, results of a Difference-in-Difference (DiD) analysis show that growth of population and population density were significantly lower even 60 years after the removal of the barrier if a region was part of the French occupation zone. There was a common trend in regional development before the migration barrier became effective. Further analyses suggest that this pattern is driven by different population dynamics in agglomerated areas. The article discusses implications for spatial theory namely whether location fundamentals, agglomeration theories or both affect the spatial equilibrium under certain conditions

Historical episodes and their legacies across space:A famous case revisited

There is a growing amount of literature in economic geography showing that historical episodes can leave long-lasting cultural and institutional legacies across space. For credibly identifying such persistent effects the analyses should not pick up trends preceding the respective episodes. Against this background, the paper re-examines the famous case of the German division and reunification. The empirical focus is on the persistent mark-up of women in work in East relative to West German regions that are often associated with legacy effects of the socialist regime that was in place in East Germany during the country's four decades of division. In contrast to the conventional wisdom in academia, policy, and the public, the current paper shows that the higher share of working women in East German regions is not due to a legacy of socialism. Female labor force participation was already remarkably higher in the East before the introduction of socialism. The general lesson is that any attempt to explain spatial variation in individual decision-making by persisting institutional and cultural legacies of certain historical episodes needs to assess regional conditions predating these episodes