Geography of starts-ups in Sweden – the role of human capital, social capital and industrial structure

Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the role of human and social capital in start-up creation process. Specifically it reveals the types of interaction between “soft” factors and institutional characteristics of the regions and investigates to what extent does the role of human and social capital varies in different institutional settings. To address this questions a multilevel model has been used which allows to capture relationships both in time and space. The data used in this paper stem from regional macrodata on human and social capital as well as industrial structure of Swedish economy. The study revealed important facts about start up creation processes, namely dual characteristic of entrepreneurship patterns in Sweden. In the metropolitan regions of the country human and social capital play much more important role than in the other regions, where the entrepreneurial activity is to large extent a result of current economic conditions and industrial settings.