University of Caen research workshop, April 4-5
High tech entrepreneurship from a regional and individual perspective1
(Entrepreneurship: des déterminants régionaux des créations d’entreprises dans le secteur des ICT aux
déterminants de l’entrepreneuriat académique)
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Frank Lasch, GSCM-Montpellier Business School
2300, Avenue des Moulins
34185 Montpellier Cedex 4, France
f.lasch@supco-montpellier.fr
Introduction
The study of entrepreneurship lacks a comprehensive framework (Gnyawali & Fogel, 1994) and has an
eclectic ‘flavour’ (Freytag & Thurik, 2007; Verheul, Wennekers, Audretsch & Thurik, 2002; Wennekers,
Uhlaner & Thurik, 2002). Authors conduct research on different levels of analysis (individual, organizational
and regional) and we observe broadly six themes in literature (Ucbasaran Westhead & Wright, 2001):
Theoretical antecedents, type of entrepreneur, entrepreneurial process, type of organization, outcome, and
external environment.
This presentation deals with a specific type of high tech entrepreneurship (Information and Communication
Technologies, ICT) and focuses on two of the six prominent themes cited above: regional environment and
types of entrepreneurs.
Understanding the drivers or barriers of new firm formation at a regional level is crucial for the strategic
management of regions. But even if a considerable outpouring of literature emphasized the importance of the
region as level of analysis for the study of entrepreneurship and location principles in the ‘new’ economy
(Scott, 2006), little empirical research is available when it comes to understand regional predictors for new
ICT firms.
Entrepreneurial opportunities in the ICT sector are synonym with a high risk of failure (Lasch, Le Roy &
Yami, 2007). Even if a huge body of literature exists, those studies deal with survival and growth factors
(predictors of success) linked to human capital, organizational or environmental issues. Paradoxically, few
studies apply sector specific approaches or focus more specifically on the ICT entrepreneur. But empirical
findings are crucial to clarify characteristics of entrepreneurs starting their business in the ICT sector, to
identify profiles and to build typologies as a base for designing entrepreneurship support programs of local,
regional and national governments for individuals engaging entrepreneurship in this sector.
In consequence, we formulate two research questions:
(1) Where does high tech entrepreneurship happen?
- Here we describe and explain regional determinants for new ICT firms.
(2) Who is the high tech entrepreneur?
- Here we present a typology of ICT entrepreneurs and we explore in more detail one of the four
types (academic entrepreneur).
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This presentation stems from empirical work published in the International Journal of Entrepreneurship & Small
Business, including earlier versions presented at the 2008 and 2010 European Council of Small Business (ECSB) and
International Council of Small Business (ICSB) conferences.
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University of Caen research workshop, April 4-5
Summary of Part 1
(1) Where does high tech entrepreneurship happen? 2
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Globalization is expected to challenge location principles and the firms’ relation to space, but paradoxically
we observe that an increasing attention is given to cluster and geographical proximity phenomena. This
paper analyses the role of regional determinants of the location decision of new entrepreneurs in the French
information and communication technologies (ICT) sector. In France, we find a strong tendency of ICT firms
to cluster and we explore why geography and location matters for an industry initially expected to evolve
with little constraint to space. We identify and measure regional determinants of ICT entrepreneurship and
provide empirical findings for entrepreneurs and other economic actors. Focusing on the emerging period of
this industry, our data set includes every new ICT firm in France in the period 1993-2001. The regional
pattern of new ICT firms suggested the value of Marshall-Arrow-Romer logics, but our results give rather
support for Krugman and Porter principles. Performing multi regression diagnostics, we find evidence for
co-location with incumbent firms (geographical proximity), endogeneous entrepreneurship capital, but obtain
surprising results for human capital and little effect of university knowledge spillovers. ICT entrepreneurship
reveals to be relatively independent from structural agglomeration advantages like physical infrastructure,
but depends much on local market opportunities and client-customer interaction with large firms.
Keywords
Entrepreneurship, ICT sector, regional factors, local environment, geographical proximity, France
JEL Classifications
L26, L63, L86, M13, O30
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Earlier versions of this part were presented at the 2010 ECSB and ICSB conference:
- Lasch F., Robert F. & Le Roy F. 2010. Where do innovations happen? Regional determinants for new ICT ventures.
European Council for Small Business (ECSB), November 18-19, Maastricht, NL.
- Lasch F., Le Roy F. & Robert F. 2010. The relevance of the region for new ICT ventures: Challengers or victims of
geography? International Council for Small Business Conference (ICSB), June 24-27, Cincinnati, OH, US.
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University of Caen research workshop, April 4-5
Summary of Part 2
(2) Who is the high tech entrepreneur? 3
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2.1 Towards a typology of entrepreneurship in emerging high tech industries
This study addresses a paradox: stakeholders agree upon the strategic importance of ICT entrepreneurship,
but little research provides empirical results to understand the ICT sector/entrepreneur. Analysing 469
entrepreneurs, the following specificities of ICT entrepreneurship in France were revealed: sub sector
differences, regional disparities, underrepresentation of female entrepreneurs, high qualification as prerequirement, insufficient preparation activities, low level of entrepreneurship training, and surprisingly high
proportion of necessity entrepreneurship. At the sub sector level, four groups of entrepreneurs are identified:
experienced cadre, “freshman”, well prepared “provident”, and “kamikaze”. The “expert” with industry
experience contrasts with the inexperienced “freshman”. The careful preparer (“provident”) displays a more
technical profile, little management experience but the highest level of preparation of all four types. His
opposition is the kamikaze: lack of specific knowledge, low education level, little preparation. Implications
for stakeholders (entrepreneurship support, venture capital) are suggested to assess and adjust measures for
each type of entrepreneur.
Key words
High tech; information and communication technologies (ICT); entrepreneurship; description of
entrepreneurs; types of entrepreneurs; typology of entrepreneurs; France.
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This part is drawn from an article…
- Robert F., Marquès P., Lasch F. & Le Roy F. 2009. Entrepreneurship in emerging High-Tech industries: ICT
entrepreneurs between experts and kamikazes. International Journal of Entrepreneurship & Small Business [Special
issue ‘High-Tech Entrepreneurship’], 7(3): 258-283.
Earlier versions of this work have been presented at...
- Lasch F., Le Roy F., Robert F. & Marquès P. 2008. From kamikazes to experts: type of high-tech entrepreneurs in the
ICT sector. European Council for Small Business (ECSB), November 19-21, Covilha, Portugal.
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University of Caen research workshop, April 4-5
2.2 The academic high tech entrepreneur: are there differences between
research university and university of applied sciences spin off’s? 4
Research on the institutional-level determinants of academic start-up activity is mostly focused on Research
Universities. Examining German Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS), this article illustrates that there are
also other types of institutions of higher education which not only comprise a valuable potential for academic
entrepreneurship, but which are also externally expected and internally committed to breeding innovative
start-up companies. Based on a number of secondary data sources, findings reveal that Research Universities
and Universities of Applied Sciences are characterized by a number of idiosyncratic features which shape
both the quantity and quality of knowledge and technology based start-up activity in specific ways. We
analyze determinants for entrepreneurship for both types of universities (86 research universities and 99
UAS). Our findings suggest that Research Universities and UAS bear complementary functions for
innovative start-up activity in the German innovation system. The article concludes with implications for
future research and perspectives of research on the processes underlying academic start-up generation.
Key words
Entrepreneurship; Germany; Knowledge and technology based start-ups; Research Universities; Universities
of Applied Sciences; Academic spin-offs; entrepreneurship support policy
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This part is based upon…
- Heumann S., Schmude J. & Lasch F. 2010. Academic entrepreneurship in knowledge and technology based industries:
Fundamental determinants at German research universities and universities of applied sciences. International Journal
of Entrepreneurship & Small Business [Special issue ‘Entrepreneurial Contexts, Decisions, and Strategies’], 10(1):
5-29.
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References cited in introduction
Freytag, A., & Thurik, R. (2007). Entrepreneurship and its determinants in a cross-country setting. Journal of
Evolutionary Economics, 17, 117-131.
Gnyawali, D., & Fogel, D. (1994). Environments for entrepreneurship development: Key dimensions and
research implications. Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, 18(4), 43-62.
Lasch, F., Le Roy, F., & Yami, S. (2007). Critical growth factors of ICT start-ups. Management Decision,
45(1), 62-75.
Scott, A. (2006). Entrepreneurship, innovation and industrial development: Geography and the creative field
revisited. Small Business Economics, 26(1), 1-24.
Ucbasaran, D., Westhead, P., & Wright M. (2001). The focus of entrepreneurial research: contextual and
process issues. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Summer 21: 57-80.
Verheul, I., Wennekers, S., Audretsch, D.B., & Thurik, R. (2002). An eclectic theory of entrepreneurship:
policies, institutions and culture. In: D.B. Audretsch, R.Thurik, I. Verheuil & S. Wennekers (Eds.),
Entrepreneurship: determinants and policy in a European-US comparison (pp.11-81). Boston MA:
Kluwer.
Wennekers, S., Uhlaner, L., & Thurik, R. (2002). Entrepreneurship and its conditions: A macro perspective.
International Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 1(1), 25-64.
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