Although human capital externalities are a key variable in theories of economic growth, there has been little investigation of the mechanism by which these externalities are realized. We examine the relationship between the local levels of human capital and firm formation rates and find that...

We model spatial clusters of similar firms. Our model highlights how agglomerative forces lead to localized, individual connections among firms, while interaction costs generate a defined distance over which attraction forces operate. Overlapping firm interactions yield agglomeration clusters...

Measures of entrepreneurship, such as average establishment size and the prevalence of start-ups, correlate strongly with employment growth across and within metropolitan areas, but the endogeneity of these measures bedevils interpretation. Chinitz (1961) hypothesized that coal mines near...

Entrepreneurship has clearly evolved as a critical element in the organization and restructuring of modern economies. It has been further fostered by the deregulation and privatization process in many Western countries. In addition, governments have acknowledged and started promoting the role of...

Measures of entrepreneurship, such as average establishment size and the prevalence of start-ups, correlate strongly with employment growth across and within metropolitan areas, but the endogeneity of these measures bedevils interpretation. Chinitz (1961) hypothesized that coal mines near...

It is well established that the thickness of local markets can enhance entrepreneurial activity (Vernon (1960)). It has been more recently established that because they carry out so many different tasks, a balance of skills may be beneficial to entrepreneurs (Lazear (2004, 2005)). This paper...

Housing developments (condos and suburban developments) are not necessarily homogeneous. Developers provide different types of units of various sizes and other characteristics catering to different types of customers. In this paper, we allow joint production and local consumption externalities...

Entrepreneurship has clearly evolved as a critical element in the organization and restructuring of modern economies. It has been further fostered by the deregulation and privatization process in many Western countries. In addition, governments have acknowledged and started promoting the role of...

Draft chapter for the forthcoming Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Vols. 5A and 5B This paper reviews academic research on the connections between agglomeration and innovation. The authors first describe the conceptual distinctions between invention and innovation. They then discuss how...

Being a "jack-of-all-trades" increases the probability of running an entrepreneurial venture successfully; but what happens to "jack-of-few-trades" who lack sufficient skills? This paper investigates a possible compensation mechanism between balanced skills and cities, and how this compensatory...