Establishing the effect of regional clusters on entrepreneurial activity: Evidence from the UK

The impact of clusters on entrepreneurship has not been adequately and formally substantiated through empirical analysis. This dissertation looks at the effect of clusters on entrepreneurship at the regional level in the United Kingdom and a comparison is made with a similar study already carried out in Germany. A combination of Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data with Eurostat, European Cluster Observatory, European Innovation Scoreboard, and the UK Office of National Statistics data is used on the UK’s 37 NUTS 2 EU structural fund assistance regions to test the hypotheses regarding entrepreneurship, clusters, and innovation. A logistic regression model result reinforced further by a Generalised Linear Latent and Mixed Model, and a random intercept logit model showed that there is a positive impact of clusters on entrepreneurship. Formalizing the relationship between clusters and entrepreneurship can help practitioners and policymakers to make informed choices, conduct better monitoring, and to make better forecast nascent clusters for potential success or failure in terms of propagating entrepreneurship.