Agglomeration Dynamics of Innovative Start-Ups in Italy Beyond the Industrial District Era
Аннотация
Principal Topic \nUnder the “Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship”, urbanization economies rather than \nlocalization economies are considered the driving force for new venture creation (Jacobs, 1969; \nAudretsch & Feldman, 1996). Furthermore, diversified urban areas results suitable location for new \nventures compared with industry-specialized and less urbanized areas (Handerson, 1995; Porter, \n1999). \nLocalization of new ventures may also show some form of “path dependency” (Fotopoulos, 2014). \nThus, geographical areas with relatively high rates of new venture creation in the past – such as \nItalian industrial district area (IDs) - are likely to show high rates of startups in the future (Fritsch \n& Mueller, 2006; Hathaway, 2013). In addition, business support and incubating initiatives i.e. \nincubators and science parks may foster entrepreneurship (Ratinho & Henriques, 2010). \nMethod \nThe analysis is based on 6018 innovative startups registered in the Italian Chamber of Commerce \nFirms Register, classified according to two-digit NACE codes 2007. Other data were collected from \nthe Italian Institute of Statistics, including the geographical distribution of 141 industrial districts, \nas well as from an empirical research meant to locate and classify incubating initiatives. All data \nwere analyzed considering 104 Italian NUTS 3 regions - aka “provinces” - using a multiple linear \nregression model. \nResults and Implication \nThe study presents four main findings. First, diversified and urban area seem not to play a \nsignificant role in new venture creation and agglomeration. Second, the presence of industrial \ndistricts exhibit a positive influence on innovative new venture birth rate. Third, incubating \ninitiatives reveal a strong and positive impact on innovative new venture birth rate. Fourth, the \nauthors add empirical confirmation on entrepreneurship as tool that fosters existing regional \ndisparities rather than regional development. \nThis study highlight the centrality of incubating initiatives on the extant debate on new venture \ncreation. Since, incubating initiatives are only a small part of the wider supportive startup system, \nthere is space here for future research. Moreover, path dependency theories over the traditional \nagglomeration theories find support in this research. Thus, suggesting important insights for policy \nmakers. For instance, policy-makers should design specific measure to facilitate a collaborative \nmodel between SME, typically populating a IDs, and innovative startups. This, it may represent a \nkey driver for the future economic growth.