2023 Volume 38 Issue 3 Pages 286-298
Local entrepreneurial ecosystems have been attracting worldwide attention. Based on the author's own studies, this paper focuses on the role of local governments and support providers (chambers of commerce and industry, regional financial institutions, etc.) in local entrepreneurial ecosystems. First, this paper reviews the development of startup support in Japan, focusing on the "startup support business plan" certification program, which started in 2014. This policy supports the formation of entrepreneurial ecosystems, encouraging local governments to formulate and implement their own startup support based on local public-private partnerships. Second, we examine the policy effects of this certification program using municipality panel data. We show that the policy significantly increased business startups, especially in regions with disadvantages for business startups. Third, based on the author's own survey of municipalities, it is found that most of the responding cities offer a variety of startup support programs in cooperation with local support providers.
