Mauricio Vaz Lobo Bittencourt (p), Marcos Hasegawa, Arno Schmitz, Daniel Scolaro

Ana Daniel

This research seeks to analyze the importance of spatial availability of water balance in the decision of agents to establish economic activities in the southeast region of Brazil, specifically in the state of São Paulo. Given the characteristics inherent to the decision-making process regarding the location of companies, if a certain economic activity is highly demanding of water, it will move towards proximity to this important resource. In this sense, the future planning of these companies should consider regions where water availability is not a problem. In order to understand the spatial dynamics of the water balance in a region of significant water scarcity, such as the watershed of the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí rivers (PCJ), so-called locational variables will be selected that represent the demand side for water resources. A Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) model was employed and the results of the principal component analysis were important to define the main variables to be used. Results allowed to make spatial statistical inferences for a future scenario, the year 2030, in order to verify which regions will have, given the stipulated scenario, a greater water balance than the other regions in the state of São Paulo. Therefore, with these results it is possible to establish which location(s) is(are) most suitable for companies whose demands for water are important.

Korneliusz Pylak (p), Bartosz Przysucha (p)

Mauricio Vaz Lobo Bittencourt

Entrepreneurship contributes significantly to economic development, but in doing so it causes socio-economic inequalities to widen. This is due to the uneven distribution of entrepreneurship, as well as the uneven effectiveness of entrepreneurs, only some of whom (those ambitious) contribute significantly to productivity growth, added value and thus the well-being of the community. This applies both at the regional level, where long-term policies supporting sustainable regional development, such as the EU Cohesion Policy, do not exhibit significant effectiveness, and at the local level such as cities or even urban neighbourhoods.
Is it therefore conceivable to provide stable economic growth while ensuring that Sustainable Development Goals are met? This paper aims to contribute to answering this question by pointing to the existence of sustainable entrepreneurial micro-ecosystems (SEEs). SEEs are likely to be characterised by relatively high levels of income with little income differentiation. SEEs will also provide a balance between business and residential, social, and green areas, as founders of new businesses are more likely to locate near their homes. Thus, SEEs are intended to offer a welcoming place to work and live, providing decent living conditions for all.
Where to look for SEEs? Theoretically speaking, SEEs should exist outside or between innovation ecosystems that create high but uneven income growth. Moreover, SEEs that are in some influence of fast-growing innovation ecosystems should exhibit higher but equal income levels than ecosystems located far away. SEEs should also include a proportion of or be near residential, recreational and green spaces.
Why is it important to find SEEs? Above all, we will gain knowledge about how SEEs are created, where they are located, under what natural, social, economic conditions, and institutional framework and if and where innovation ecosystems are located that have an impact on SEEs. This is essential knowledge for entrepreneurial policy, which so far supports a process of entrepreneurial discovery directed at increasing innovation, forgetting the social and environmental aspects of sustainability. With this knowledge, entrepreneurship policy is able to ensure the right entrepreneurial fabric, reinforced with the right tools in dimensions that are key to the development of SEEs, as well as the right deployment of these ecosystems around innovation ecosystems. This knowledge is also essential for urban policy, which should ensure adequate levels of residential, recreational, green territory around workplaces and homes, so that SEEs have natural conditions to thrive.

Joona Lohtander (p)

Bartosz Przysucha

Resilience has attracted growing attention, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, knowledge of how individuals’ resilience relates to well-established concepts from economics such as risk preferences is scarce. While the effects of personality traits to both risk aversion and resilience have been studied, the interaction of risk aversion and resilience has received less attention. The present study investigates the connection between resilience, personality and resistance to change. We find that after controlling for the effects of personality on both resilience and resistance to change, resilience is positively associated with resistance to change. Furthermore, this connection is especially strong for entrepreneurs, and it is not statistically significant for people who have not experienced poverty. The results suggest, that the effect of resilience on resistance to change is limited and instead, exposure to adversity might shape both resistance to change and resilience in a similar manner. The results suggest that while adversities can improve one's resilience, they could simultaneously increase one's resistance to change and possibly risk aversion.

Ana Daniel (p), João Almeida

Joona Lohtander

The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (EE) concept has been gaining attention as a holistic approach to studying the evolution of a local economy, being increasingly adopted by policymakers to promote entrepreneurship and innovation and foster local socio-economic development. This study represents an original attempt to understand the EE governance evolution and to contribute to the lack of research regarding underdeveloped places, such as low-density territories. The findings highlight the strong role of local government in the creation and development of the EE, filling the existing governance and resources void in the LDTs, through the performance of several roles during the EE evolution. Several EE governance strategies were also identified to face local challenges related to community acceptance, lack of entrepreneurial culture, or lack of resources. This work provides important contributions to EE and regional development literature, as well as implications for local and regional policymakers aiming to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in their territories.