Title: Regional entrepreneurship: what can we learn from the periphery?

Authors: Christian Felzensztein; Eli Gimmon

Addresses: School of Business, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Diagonal Las Torres 2700, Peñalolen, Santiago, Chile. ' Department of Economics and Management, Tel-Hai College, Upper Galilee 12210, Israel

Abstract: Previous research in different countries found peripheral regions are weaker than core regions in terms of indicators related to founding new ventures. The research proposition of this study is whether entrepreneurs located far away from core regions perceive difficulties in founding new ventures. Based on the global entrepreneurship monitor (GEM) methodology regarding entrepreneurial framework conditions, we interviewed 32 entrepreneurs located in regions of Southern Chile. The results show peripheral regions deprived in terms of entrepreneurial capabilities. The current policies of national and local governments in Chile tailored for fostering and facilitating entrepreneurial activity do not seem to be in favour of regional entrepreneurship and do not provide enough support to entrepreneurs located in peripheral areas. The objective of this paper is to address a common problem in emerging countries with diverse regions and can be of value to the entrepreneurial, policy and scholarly communities.

Keywords: regional entrepreneurship; global entrepreneurship monitor; GEM; entrepreneurial framework conditions; Chile; peripheral regions; new ventures; emerging economies.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2012.045685

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2012 Vol.15 No.3, pp.362 - 375

Published online: 14 Aug 2014 *

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