TY - JOUR
T1 - Rural businesses and levelling up: A rural-urban analysis of business innovation and exporting in England's north and midlands
AU - Tiwasing, Pattanapong
AU - Gorton, Matthew
AU - Phillipson, Jeremy
AU - Maioli, Sara
PY - 2023/5
Y1 - 2023/5
N2 - In the face of persistent and widening regional imbalances in economic and social outcomes, the UK Government seeks to ‘level up’ less prosperous communities, reigniting debates on the relationships between geography and business innovation. A key question concerns whether cities provide a more favourable environment for business innovation and exporting. However, the comparative performance of urban and rural Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) within less prosperous regions has received little attention. Using Longitudinal Small Business Survey data, we apply Propensity Score Matching to study urban-rural differences in SME performance in the North and Midlands of England. The findings reveal no systematic, significant differences in goods, service and process innovation or exporting between rural and urban SMEs, suggesting that the emphasis on urban focused growth in the levelling up agenda appears misplaced.
AB - In the face of persistent and widening regional imbalances in economic and social outcomes, the UK Government seeks to ‘level up’ less prosperous communities, reigniting debates on the relationships between geography and business innovation. A key question concerns whether cities provide a more favourable environment for business innovation and exporting. However, the comparative performance of urban and rural Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) within less prosperous regions has received little attention. Using Longitudinal Small Business Survey data, we apply Propensity Score Matching to study urban-rural differences in SME performance in the North and Midlands of England. The findings reveal no systematic, significant differences in goods, service and process innovation or exporting between rural and urban SMEs, suggesting that the emphasis on urban focused growth in the levelling up agenda appears misplaced.
KW - Export performance
KW - Innovation
KW - Midlands Engine
KW - Northern Powerhouse
KW - Rural-urban analysis
KW - Treatment effect analysis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151630792&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103007
DO - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2023.103007
M3 - Article
SN - 0743-0167
VL - 100
JO - Journal of Rural Studies
JF - Journal of Rural Studies
M1 - 103007
ER -