Title: Accessibility to human capital and new firm formation

Authors: Charlie Karlsson, Mikaela Backman

Addresses: Jonkoping International Business School (JIBS), Jonkoping, Sweden. ' Jonkoping International Business School (JIBS), Jonkoping, Sweden

Abstract: This paper investigates the impact human capital has on new firm formation, traditionally expected to have a positive influence. Since human capital is partly spatially bounded, the size of local accessibility to human capital is expected to have a larger impact than regional and national interaction. The empirical analysis is based on data on new firm formation for Swedish urban areas and accessibility to human capital. In the analysis, the urban areas are divided into several groups. The results indicate that it is the local accessibility to human capital that has a positive impact on new firm formation.

Keywords: human capital; new firms; company formation; urban areas; local accessibility; Sweden; spatial boundaries; regional interaction; national interaction; foresight; innovation policies; innovative business resources; economic development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJFIP.2011.040063

International Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy, 2011 Vol.7 No.1/2/3, pp.7 - 22

Published online: 25 Apr 2015 *

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