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ABSTRACT
This paper studies firm entries and exits in Estonian urban areas, urban hinterlands, and rural peripheries following EU accession, and it analyzes the effects of changes in population density, employee income level, unemployment, and economic climate on firm entries and exits. It concludes that the firm entry rate exceeded the exit rate in all of the years between 2005 and 2012. The urban hinterland is characterized by the highest level of both entries and exits. The fixed-effect regression models show that income and recession, which are the most significant factors to impact on local entrepreneurship, have a similar effect on different municipality types.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Anne Põder
Anne Põder is a PhD student (agricultural economics) and researcher in the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences at the Estonian University of Life-Sciences. Her PhD thesis focuses on the rural entrepreneurship in Estonia. Her research interests are rural entrepreneurship and regional development, farm exits, and diversification.
Ants-Hannes Viira
Ants-Hannes Viira, PhD (agricultural economics), is the head of the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences at the Estonian University of Life-Sciences. His main research interests are structural change in agriculture, farm exits, adjustment and competitiveness of agriculture in EU and CAP reforms, macroeconomic models of agricultural prices, and production.
Rando Värnik
Rando Värnik is a professor of agricultural economics in the Institute of Economics and Social Sciences at the Estonian University of Life-Sciences and serves as head of the Association of Estonian Agricultural Economists. He is a member of the steering committee of Estonian rural development plan 2014–2020. His main research interests are in regional competitiveness, economic diversification in rural areas, agricultural efficiency, and productivity.