International Trade in the High-Tech Sector—Support or Obstacle to Start-Up Processes at the Macro Level in European Union Countries?

Aleksandra Gawel

doi:10.3390/jtaer16050105

Abstract

High-tech internationalization touches on two aspects impacting entrepreneurship: openness of the economy and its level of innovativeness. Both of them might positively or negatively affect the process of new company creations, as suggested by the concept of entrepreneurial regime with creative destruction or by the concept of routinized regime with creative accumulation. The aim of the article is to assess the impact of high-tech internationalization on the start-up process of new company creation. Cluster analysis and panel modeling for European Union countries in 2009–2018 were conducted. The research results distinguish clusters of European Union countries with a different level of high-tech internationalization. The impact of high-tech internationalization on start-up rates is significant in the case of both clusters; however, it is stronger in the cluster of countries with a relatively higher level of high-tech international openness. The high-tech intra-EU import and extra-EU high-tech export negatively affect the rate of new enterprise creation in both clusters. Additionally, extra-EU import in clusters with a relatively higher level of high-tech internationalization also negatively impacts start-up rates. The only aspect supporting the start-up process is the level of intra-EU export in clusters with higher levels of high-tech internationalization. The results suggest that in European Union countries, creative accumulation is the dominant phenomenon.

Highlights

IntroductionThe internationalization of the high-tech sector includes two aspects influencing entrepreneurship: the openness of the economy and the level of its innovation and technological advancement
As countries differ regarding the level of internationalization of the high-tech industry, these observed differences lead to formulating the two research questions: to what extent is the expected effect of high-tech internationalization on start-up activities moderated by the level of international openness of the high-tech industry, and in which group of countries, with lower or with higher levels of high-tech internationalization, is this assumed influence stronger?
Does the internationalization of the high-tech sector contribute to the start-up process of new company creation from a country macro-level perspective?

Summary

Introduction

The internationalization of the high-tech sector includes two aspects influencing entrepreneurship: the openness of the economy and the level of its innovation and technological advancement. Both of these aspects can positively and negatively affect the process of creating new enterprises. Internationalization of the high-tech sector can support the start-up process through greater openness to the creation and implementation of new technological solutions to the market by newly-created companies, which is observed in entrepreneurial regimes and in the process of creative destruction. As is observed in routinized regimes and the process of creative accumulation, the development and international openness of the high-tech sector may be a factor limiting the development of new enterprises when this sector creates competitive conditions in favor of established enterprises and, constitutes a barrier to market entry for new firms

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