Skills and knowledge-based entrepreneurship: evidence from US cities

Abstract

Skills and knowledge-based entrepreneurship: evidence from US cities. Regional Studies. This paper explores the association between human capital and knowledge-based entrepreneurship. While the existing literature mostly focuses on education-based human capital, this paper adopts a skills-based human capital approach and examines the associations between various types of labour market skills and high-technology entrepreneurship in US metropolitan regions. Spatial regression results show that cognitive, technical, problem-solving, social and managerial skills are positively associated with high-technology start-up activity. Additionally, these skills also play moderating roles in turning university research into entrepreneurial activity in knowledge-based regional economies. This research contributes to the search for regional entrepreneurship policy from a skills-enhancing perspective.