Entrepreneurship in the region: Breeding ground for nascent enterpreneurs?

This paper employs data from the German Socioeconomic Panel (GSOEP) and data from the German Social Insurance Statistics to study nascent entrepreneurship. In particular, micro data from the GSOEP characterizing employees and nascent entrepreneurs is combined with regional characteristics. Firstly, considering only the micro data the estimates imply that the potential drivers of nascent entrepreneurs are entrepreneurial experience, entrepreneurial learning, and parental self-employment. Secondly, accounting for regional characteristics, which measure the regional level of young and small firms or start-up activity, strongly indicate that regions with strong tradition in entrepreneurship are a breeding ground for nascent entrepreneurs.