The ever-changing socioeconomic conditions for entrepreneurship

This paper explores spatial and temporal contexts for entrepreneurship at both the regional and country level in Spain during three different periods from 2002 to 2018. Using institutional data, we find significant differences in the conditions influencing new firm formation rates by regions. Such variations in firm formation rates are mainly explained by unemployment and economic stagnation in the presence of high population density before and during the economic crisis periods. However, human capital greatly determines entrepreneurship starting in 2015. This study illustrates how a contextualized view of entrepreneurship contributes to our understanding of this phenomenon. As a result, our work enriches our understanding of the dynamic socioeconomic drivers motivating entrepreneurial action.