Old habits die hard: pushing the frontiers of entrepreneurship persistence since 1926

Pylak, Korneliusz and Sosnovskikh, Sergey ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3744-740X (2024) Old habits die hard: pushing the frontiers of entrepreneurship persistence since 1926. Regional Studies. ISSN 0034-3404

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Abstract

This study explores the persistence mechanism of both high- and low-quality entrepreneurship in post-Soviet countries, encompassing entrepreneurial culture and historical regional characteristics. While spatial econometrics revealed persistence patterns for both entrepreneurship modes, the pioneering finding concerns the persistence of low-quality entrepreneurship, driven by a scarcity of high-quality role models in 1926. Instead, low-quality role models of sole proprietorships, mainly in the craft, transport, trade and credit sectors, shaped low-quality today’s entrepreneurs, alongside ‘sticky’ regional characteristics such as under-industrialisation and low population density. The study provides important insights into the formation of entrepreneurship in transition economies and offers guidance for policy.