Discouraged Entrepreneurship and Inhibited Innovation in Times of Crisis and Recession: Empirical Observations in Doing Business in a Rural Area in Central Italy

Abstract

Conventional analyses tend to explain impediments to local development as results of conjunctural or structural problems in particular during recession or crisis conditions. Areas showing huge bundles of territorial resources in theory should have positive preconditions to better cope with these adverse conditions. Nonetheless, inertial behaviours in local agents are the symptoms of the presence of blocking and discouraging mechanisms in the business context eroding the possibilities to efficiently react to recessive environment. What may concretely encourage/discourage entrepreneurs in starting up new activities in these contexts and what is determining these inertial conditions? The present study, based on some empirical observations, aims to evidence the multidimensional nature and effects of these blocking factors capable to generate long-lasting difficulties towards business initiatives and innovation, weakening the business environment and amplifying the consequences of crisis and recession conditions.