A series of empirical studies has identified that a pervasive shift in the industrial structure away from large corporations and towards small enterprises has taken place between the mid-1970s and early 1990s. This shift occurred in virtually every single leading industrial country. The...

We investigate the impact of start-up rates on regional economic development. We argue that in line with Schumpeter's view this effect is mediated by a process of creative destruc-tion: Start-ups spark a process of creative destruction which in turn leads to regional eco-nomic development....