The Impacts of Demographic Change in the Functional Economies for the North of England on Entrepreneurship and Business Development by Those Aged 50 and Over

Abstract

This project sought to study the simple to state but difficult to address problem of tackling a long term entrepreneurial deficit in the North of England while adjusting to demographic change. The project was part of a programme of research into the latter but employed an array of research tools notably case studies, a telephone survey and in-depth interviews to investigate the impact of these demographic changes on new firm formation rates and the stock of businesses. Our work highlighted not only the spatial aspects of change but the opportunities created by an older population. We found growing interest in self-employment among those aged 50 and over. Men were, however, more likely to seek continuing employment, while women were more enthusiastic about self-employment and business creation. There were other differences by gender in terms of their business ambitions and types of venture they wanted to create. Attention was paid in the study to the opportunities for entrepreneurship policy interventions locally, regionally and sectorally that might emerge from the restructuring of the public sector. There are, however, barriers to capitalising on these opportunities especially the evidence of high levels of risk aversion among public sector workers.