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The purpose of this study is to examine whether entrepreneurship is an important factor of regional economic resilience. For this purpose, this study analyzes the regional economic resilience of the regions affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and the 2008-2009 economic recession. It is assumed that some regions in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas where different types of disturbances occurred are effective research areas to examine the role of entrepreneurship in the recovery process.From the dynamic panel analysis, this study finds that entrepreneurship is positively related to employment and population growth in the affected regions. In line with previous studies showing that entrepreneurship can contribute to economic growth, this study adds to the extant literature on the role of entrepreneurship by considering external shocks. However, this study reveals that entrepreneurship does not significantly affect per capita income growth. It reflects that the effect of entrepreneurship can differ according to the measurement used. From the quasi-experimental analysis, regions with high entrepreneurial activities show higher levels of employment and population than regions with low entrepreneurial activities after natural disasters. When other regional economic structures and the effects of hurricanes are controlled, the difference in the levels of employment and population is explained by entrepreneurship. Once the national economic recessions begin, however, the difference between high and low entrepreneurship counties disappears. This reflects that the role of entrepreneurship can differ according to the attributes of disturbances. Based on the empirical results, this study demonstrates that entrepreneurship can be an important element of regional economic resilience. To be specific, its role is conspicuous in employment and population growth after natural disasters. Furthermore, this study contributes to previous studies by illustrating that the effects of entrepreneurship depend on measurement and disturbances. With regard to empirical finding, this study suggests several policy implications that can increase regional economic resilience. |
