The Age Structure of a Population and Entrepreneurship: Cross-regional Analysis

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between the age structure of the population and entrepreneurial activity of the population in the region. The measure of entrepreneurial activity is the number of legal entities registered in the reporting period that carry out activities on a commercial basis. This study links literature devoted to investigation of the relationship between age and entrepreneurship and understanding entrepreneurship as a regional phenomenon. The basis of this work is the study “The Impact of Regional Age Structure on Entrepreneurship” by Werner Bönte, Oliver Falck & Stephan Heblich (2009), which solves similar problems using German data as an example. There are differences in the method of data collection that appears due to the different level of entrepreneurial activity in Russia and Germany. During the analysis, we conclude that the choice of the method for collecting the data of the dependent variable can have a significant impact on the results of the study, therefore, differences in the results of the analysis can be explained not only by country differences. Unlike Germany and a number of other countries, there is a higher level of entrepreneurial activity in Russia noted among young people aged 20-29 years, while in Germany these are people aged 40-49 years. Despite this difference, we conclude that there is an inverse U-shaped relationship between age and a propensity for entrepreneurship. Moreover, results of this are similar to the results of the aforementioned one, and confirm a statistically significant relationship between the age structure of the population and entrepreneurial activity. This study makes a significant contribution to the domestic literature on the study of entrepreneurship, since this topic is not yet disclosed by researchers. The results will be useful both for conducting such researches and in-depth study of entrepreneurship as well as for making important decisions regarding the choice of a strategy for stimulating and supporting entrepreneurship in Russia.