Long-term persistence in entrepreneurship: the case of post-socialist Czechia (1930–2011)

This paper explores the long-term persistence of interregional differences in self-employment rates. The analysis, based on spatial Durbin error models, was performed for 206 Czech regions from 1930 to 2011. The results obtained supported the ‘persistence claim’ because regional self-employment rates in 1930 were found to be positively and significantly associated with those obtained in 1991, 2001 and 2011. Moreover, this study contributes to the knowledge about transmission channels of historical entrepreneurial experience. First, a new mechanism related to the career and educational paths of individuals with a pre-socialist entrepreneurial family background is suggested. Second, the newcomers’ capacity to absorb knowledge and skills is emphasized as crucial for the functioning of pre-socialist ‘entrepreneurial memory’.