In this paper we study how differences in the quality of countries' institutions affect the impact of natural hazards in these countries. To do so, we first build a new data set that allows us to adequately control for countries' development and geological characteristics and, importantly,...

Why does one person actually succeed in starting a business, while a second gives up, and a third is still trying? To answer this question, a longitudinal study was set up in which 330 nascent entrepreneurs (people setting up a business) were followed over a one-year period. After one year, 47%...

Entry and exit of firms is an item of major importance in economic policy. The purpose of this report is to investigate whether entry and exit of firms affects productivity. A model for total factor productivity is developed using a panel of regional data for the years 1988 up to and including 1996.

By stimulating entrepreneurship, the actual goal is especially to stimulate the people who will be successful after starting up their businesses. Considering the great variety within the group of (potential) entrepreneurs, there is need for specific insight in the factors that determine the...

It is generally acknowledged that the size-class distribution of enterprises in a country is an important characteristic of its economy. The EU countries are increasingly co-operating and adjusting to each other's needs in order to achieve optimal joint output. However, country differences -at...