The Impact of COVID-19 on the Size Distribution of New Firms in Turkey

A surge in new firm registrations have been one of the most intriguing outcomes of the economic turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Turkey followed a similar pattern to many other economies that observed an initial drop and a rapid V-shaped recovery of entry when the virus hit the country. However, the size distribution of new firms has been very different. While others experience a strong rise in smaller entrants, larger firms have dominated the pack in Turkey. As a widely-known long-term problem of the Turkish economy, which has been accused of causing the stagnation of growth, miniscule firms have been losing their weight rapidly among the entrants. It revives lost hopes for the future of the economy and also motivates questions regarding the other determinants of such transformation in new firm formation.

Does START-UP NY Promote Firm Formation?

This paper explores the impact of START-UP NY policy throughout simulations by using the agent-based model. In 2013, Governor Cuomo introduced the policy START-UP NY (New York), designed to create more jobs by helping people start or move their qualified businesses into tax-free zones. Measuring the impact of START-UP NY, however, is difficult because the data are not yet available for causal inference purposes. The agent-based model developed for this paper is designed to simulate the impact of START-UP NY on the local economy of Tompkins County by conducting the Cobb-Douglas function into the model using the data from the IMPLAN model. The simulation results show that ensuring a stable demand for firms’ output is more critical for firms to survive than the kind of tax exemptions offered by START-UP NY.

Do local start-ups and knowledge spillovers matter for firm-level R&D investment?

What happens to firm-level research and development (R&D) when urban locations have more knowledge spillovers and are more entrepreneurial? This article explores the potential tension between knowledge spillovers, start-ups and innovation effort in existing firms. The relationship is empirically tested using Swedish firm-level data and municipality-level data on start-ups. The results indicate that having more start-ups in urban municipalities is associated with lower firm-level R&D expenditure. However, this relationship is not linear, where the negative association between the level of new firm formation and firm-level R&D expenditure decreases with scale. This suggests that the relationship between local entrepreneurship and a business’ R&D decisions is conditioned by the extent of that entrepreneurship.

Fast-growth firms and successful environmental entrepreneurs in emerging countries

Growth is a broad area and many aspect of growth is under research especially in smaller and entrepreneurial firms. Many research show that growth and fast growth happens randomly and is not a continuous phenomenon. In this study, we investigate how successful entrepreneurs grow their firms. The investigation involved ten fast-growth firm cases in Iran -as an emerging economy- in different industries. The research is qualitative and data gathered through semi structured in-depth interviews. After coding, all interviews are mapped. By using Decision Explorer® all causal maps are analyzed. Analysis show that fast growth is a direct outcome of entrepreneurial marketing (EM) practices and indirectly influenced by serendipity. Serendipity is an element observed in many firms that generally occurs at the initial phase of firm formation and could bring great opportunities but indirectly associated with fast-growth. However, serendipity itself is not important but the ability to recognize and exploit opportunity is a crucial activity that entrepreneurs are really great at it. The ability of entrepreneurs to exploit serendipitous opportunities and use entrepreneurial marketing practices in terms of innovative products and activities/process lead to fast growth. Other elements, such as network, innovation, and perseverance, could either directly or indirectly influence growth.