摘要：We investigate the role of entrepreneurship culture and the historical knowledgebase of a region on current levels of new business formation in innovativeindustries. The analysis is for German regions and covers the time period1907–2014. We find a pronounced positive relationship between high levels ofhistorical self-employment in science-based industries and new businessformation in innovative industries today. This long-term legacy effect ofentrepreneurial tradition indicates the prevalence of a regional culture ofentrepreneurship. Moreover, local presence and geographic proximity to atechnical university founded before the year 1900 is positively related to thelevel of innovative start-ups more than a century later. The results show that aconsiderable part of the knowledge that constitutes an important source ofentrepreneurial opportunities is deeply rooted in history. We draw conclusionsfor policy and for further research.
关键词：Innovative start-ups; universities; regional knowledge;regional cultures of entrepreneurship
