The city of start-ups: Location determinants of start-ups in emergent industries in Barcelona

Abstract

In recent years, scholars have highlighted the role of cities as incubators for start-ups. Several studies identify the city of Barcelona as one of the major hubs in Europe for start-up creation, especially in emergent industries. The present paper examines how local attributes, proximity to the elements of an entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE), and to nearby economic activity, influence the location of ambitious start-ups in Barcelona between 2012 and 2015. To do this, we use micro-geographic data of Barcelona start-ups provided by the Catalan Government (ACCIÓ) and open data on the socioeconomic composition of Barcelona neighbourhoods from the Statistics Department of the Council of Barcelona. By dealing with neighbouring effects and endogeneity, our results suggest that localisation economies and proximity to the elements of the EE are the key factors attracting start-ups to Barcelona's neighbourhoods. These results are crucial in helping policymakers understand the locational factors of start-ups within the city.