Entrepreneurship in Chile: do geographical and macroeconomic variables matter?

Reseña de artículo

Using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor applied in Chile from 2006 to 2015, we estimate a logistic regression to explain early entrepreneurial activity. We control for several variables reported in the survey like gender, age, attitudes toward risk, self-perceived skills, and perceptions about the status of entrepreneurs in the country. Besides, we include dummies to account for the years in the sample and to control for regional differences that could exist. We also include the region´s unemployment rate to observe the effects of this on entrepreneurial activity. We find that people living in the Valparaiso region, or the Biobio region, or the Araucania region exhibit less probability of being an entrepreneur. Furthermore, people living in these regions increase the probability that they will embark in entrepreneurship because they do not have a better work choice (necessity entrepreneurship). Results call for entrepreneurship programs tailored for those regions.