Conference proceedings on “start-ups in rural areas” published

From 6 to 7 February 2025, the conference “start-ups in rural areas: Between Public Services and High-Tech Startups” took place in Loccum. The event was co-organized by, among others, Christian Hundt, Head of the Thünen Institute of Rural Economics (WI). Over 60 participants listened to numerous contributions from science and practice and discussed empirical findings and political options for action at a high professional level.

A key conclusion of the conference: substantially fewer companies are founded in rural regions than in urban areas — even relative to population size. The main reason is that fewer people with characteristics conducive to start-ups live in these areas.

These and other findings have now been published in a conference volume of the “Loccumer Protokolle” series edited by Joachim Lange, Barbara Fährmann, Dirk Fornahl, and Christian Hundt. The volume comprises nine articles that shed light on entrepreneurial activities in rural areas from scientific, practical, and administrative perspectives. In addition to empirical findings, the primary focus is on concrete policy options for local decision-makers. One of the contributions, , authored by Christian Hundt, Christian Bergholz (WI), Rolf Sternberg (LUH), and Lena Füner (ZEW), is entitled “On start-up activity in rural areas - Empirical findings for Germany”.

The conference transcript can be ordered via the following link: https://www.loccum.de/publikationen/gruendungen-in-laendlichen-raeumen/

Kontakt: Prof. Dr. Christian Hundt