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ABSTRACT
Given that added knowledge and deeper understanding are needed with regard to regional variations in the creation of new firms, this study seeks to answer the following two research questions: What are the variables that explain entrepreneurial dynamism and how may they be apprehended under the four necessary and complementary dimensions of this phenomenon, namely the demand, supply, institutional and spatial dimensions? And how should the nature and interrelatedness of these dimensions and their associated variables influence regional policymakers and other regional stakeholders in their efforts to stimulate entrepreneurship in their region? In order to do so, we used mixed methods to collect and analyze regional data, first doing a regression analysis of quantitative data on 97 small regions in Canada’s province of Québec, followed by a qualitative survey of regional stakeholders on eight matched pairs of regions. A phenomenological qualitative analysis was then effectuated in order to gain a deeper understanding of the research variables’ effects and thus grasp the complex socio-economic reality of entrepreneurial dynamism in a region. The results of the study confirm the importance and interrelatedness of the four dimensions of entrepreneurial dynamism in providing new insights into these questions. Moreover, the findings that results from these quantitative, qualitative and holistic analyses have implications for the policies of regional authorities and for the actions of other regional stakeholders.
Acknowledgments
We thank the Associate Editor, Edward Malecki and the reviewers for their constructive comments, as well as our colleagues Frédéric Laurin, Louis Raymond, Josée St-Pierre and Martin Morin for their insights and suggestions. We also thank the Institut de la statistique du Québec, the Ministère de l’économie, des sciences and de l’innovation du Québec and Développement économique Canada for their funding of this research.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Notes
1. Given that this notion of ‘convergence’ is generally accepted, notwithstanding certain criticisms of Popper’s (Citation1959) analysis.
2. Taking Kirzner’s approach, which focuses on the opportunities that explain growth, as opposed to Schumpeter’s approach, which focuses on firm renewal, as is the case in this study.
3. As we know, these ethnic differences are particularly noteworthy in many African and Asian countries (e.g. in India), which were originally put together by colonial authorities without consideration for peoples or history, with varying impacts on entrepreneurship depending on the groups concerned. However, these differences also exist in European countries such as Belgium, Switzerland and Italy, which have regions that use their own languages or dialects and have their own specific cultures. In the case of Italy, for example, there have been many studies of the tre Italia (the three Italys), including one of the first by Savi (Citation1991) and another by Camuffo and Grandinetti (Citation2011).
4. This can be seen particularly in the correlation matrix in Appendix I.
5. This possibility to select immigrants, or at least some of these, is another example of the special powers held by Québec government in the Canadian federation.
6. Please note that the period studied does not take account the current international migration crisis stemming, in particular, from events in Libya, Syria and Iraq and from recent changes to American policy with regard to the USA-Canada border.
7. For this, we surveyed the local development centres (LDCs) set up in each RM by the Québec Government with the mission of promoting entrepreneurship. This was done in collaboration with the LDC managers’ association. The survey considered the payroll for centre personnel working directly on technical and financial support for firms, the number of firms having received this support, the number of ‘cases’ processed, and the number of new firms that in fact received support, for the years 2002 to 2010.
8. These colleges, exclusive to the education system in Québec, offer a pre-university curriculum for those students who plan to enrol in a university, and a technical curriculum for those who wish to pursue a skilled job.
9. Each respondent suggested other key civil servants and entrepreneurs, the former confirming the knowledge of the latter regarding the causes of regional dynamism, or suggesting other names. .
10. These civil servants in the four regions work for local or national governments and are tasked with helping the region’s existing and developing firms in different ways (advice, human resource brokerage, financing, technological information).
11. Northern regions are not represented in the diagram because their populations are very small and scattered, and data is even scarcer than for other regions.
12. This had been shown in an earlier enquiry on regional entrepreneurship performance (Chicha, Julien, and Marchesnay Citation1990).
13. Spatial correlation = 0.23 (interpreted in a similar way to a correlation coefficient, i.e. the closer the test value is to 1, the stronger the positive spatial correlation will be, and vice-versa for values close to −1).
14. In the survey, we obviously did not use such academic terms, but described them instead as ‘close to’ or ‘remote from’ their everyday business concerns.
15. In Québec, the unions represent roughly 35% of employees and control some very large investment funds. This is very different from the situation in other countries, including the United States.
16. E.g. entrepreneurship coming from immigration seemed particularly strong among the Chinese, Italian, Sikh and Jewish immigrants.