Amenities, subcultures, and entrepreneurship

What powers knowledge-based economies is, paradoxically, not knowledge, but rather their capacity to create new products and services through innovation and place-based entrepreneurship. Previous research has identified the importance of places attractiveness and culture for creating a supportive environment where competition, creativity and entrepreneurship can flourish. However, what specific kind of culture is attractive and actually needed remains both unknown and controversial. A growing stream of research has focused on the cultural amenities offered, such as operas, museums and theaters, and how they affect entrepreneurial outcomes – yet, with mixed results. This paper aim to contribute to the existing literature by positing that rather than mainstream culture, it is subcultural life that explains why some places emerge as creative hotspots while others do not. We utilize explorative factor analysis to compare the impact of different measures of subcultural amenities compared to the traditional measures used to reflect „mainstream” culture on startup rates in German cities. Our findings confirm the main hypothesis posited in this paper that the co-presence of subcultural amenities is positively associated with entrepreneurship. By contrast, mainstream culture has no significant impact on local startup rates. These findings make an important contribution to the recent controversy within the regional studies literature and provide insights and guidance for thought leaders in policy and urban planning