In this paper, we empirically study the relationship between entrepreneurial culture and economic growth. Based on a micro
based comparison of entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs, we develop a measure reflecting entrepreneurial attitude at the regional
level. We subsequently relate this newly developed variable, ‘entrepreneurial culture,’ to innovativeness and economic growth
in 54 European regions. Extensive robustness analysis suggests that differences in economic growth in Europe can be explained
by differences in entrepreneurial culture, albeit mostly in an indirect way.
Keywords Entrepreneurial culture - Innovation - Regional growth
JEL Classification M13 - O31 - R11
This paper was written while the author was visiting the European University Institute, Florence. The author is grateful to
the Dutch Organisation for Scientific Research. A previous version of this paper was finalist for the Carolyn Dexter Best
International Paper Award at the Academy of Management (Denver 2002) and second best paper prizewinner at the European Regional
Science Association Conference (Porto 2004). I thank the seminar participants at Tilburg University, Case Western Reserve
University, Temple University, Copenhagen Business School, University of Girona (Spain), Nijmegen School of Management (The
Netherlands) and the Max Planck Institute in Jena (Germany). The author thanks the reviewers for their useful suggestions.