Declining Business Dynamism in Belgium

Using 30 years of data from all for-profit firms incorporated in Belgium, we show that business dynamism and entrepreneurship have been declining over recent decades. This decline set in around the year 2000 following a decade of declining start-up rates. We also observe a decreasing share of young firms that become high-growth firms and more importantly a declining propensity for small (not necessarily young) firms to experience fast growth. Interestingly, a similar decline in business dynamism occurred in the U.S., where firms face a far less rigid institutional environment than in Belgium. These remarkable similarities suggest that global trends rather than country specific changes are at the basis of this evolution. We show evidence that points to the role of ICT intensity and in explaining the secular decline in business dynamism.

Jaar van publicatie:2018

BOF-keylabel:ja

IOF-keylabel:ja

BOF-publication weight:3

CSS-citation score:2

Auteurs:International

Authors from:Higher Education

Toegankelijkheid:Closed