Michael Slavensky Dahl, PhD

The Embedded Entrepreneur – Out now

Michael S. Dahl and Olav Sorenson

Using comprehensive data on the Danish population, this paper examines the determinants of entrepreneurs’ choices of where to locate their new ventures. Our findings suggest that entrepreneurs place much more emphasis on being close to family and friends than on regional characteristics that might influence the performance of their ventures when deciding where to locate those businesses. Two factors could explain our findings: On the one hand, entrepreneurs may simply value proximity to family and friends. On the other hand, these relationships may help them to assemble the assets and to recruit the personnel that they need to succeed in their ventures. Our results suggest that the former plays the greater role in entrepreneurs’ location choices.

Update, May 28: Received the EMR Best Paper Award for 2009

Michael S. Dahl and Olav Sorenson (2009) “The embedded entrepreneur”, European Management Review, Vol. 6, pp. 172-181 [DOI Link] – Download here

Master Program in Innovation and Entrepreneurship

My research group has a master program, which deserves some attention on this site.

MSc in Innovation, Knowledge and Economic Dynamics (MIKE-E) – leading to a Master’s Degree in Economics. MIKE-E emphasises economic analysis and strategies in relation to knowledge, innovation and economic dynamics.

MSc in Innovation, Knowledge and Entrepreneurial Dynamics (MIKE-B) – leading to a Master’s Degree in Business Economics.MIKE-B has a special focus on knowledge management and innovation in relation to entrepreneurial dynamics.

The close collaboration between the two programmes gives a unique opportunity to combine macro- and micro perspectives, and gives students new possibilities to design and individual study profile. The programmes enroll both Danish and international students and the teaching language is English.

Visit the website or even better see this folder for more information.

Hello world! Site have been updated…

Welcome to the new version of my website. In technical terms, I have moved from Joomla.org to WordPress.org, which is a little more simple and more appropriate for smaller, personal webpages like this. And I like to try something new for the site.

Please note the EMAEE Conference in Jena

My friend Guido Buenstorf is organizing the 6th European Meeting for Applied Evolutionary Economics (EMAEE) in Jena, Germany. The conference targets specifically the younger researcher in this field and is traditionally very successful.

EMAEE is an international conference focusing on young researchers (PhD students and post-docs). EMAEE provides a unique opportunity to discuss the latest insights and methods in applied evolutionary economics and innovation studies with top international scholars.

Evolutionary economics is a leading paradigm for research into innovation, organizations, and industrial dynamics. Beyond these fields, evolutionary economics provides a general approach to the study of emergent novelty and dynamic change in the economy. Plenary speakers at EMAEE 2009 will explore commonalities with the neighboring fields and disciplines – in particular behavioral economics, organization and management science, and historiography.

The conference will welcome among others Steven Klepper, Olav Sorenson, Sid Winter and Francesco Lissoni as keynote speakers. Deadline for abstracts is October, 31st, 2008. Check out the website for further details.

Whom do new firms hire?

Michael S. Dahl and Steven Klepper

Using the matched employer-employee data set for Denmark and information on the founders of new firms, we analyze the hiring choices of all new firms that entered in 1995-2001. We develop a theoretical model in which the quality of a firm’s employees determines its average cost, a firm’s productivity is based on its pre-entry experience and persistent shocks, and over time firms learn about their productivity. The model predicts that more productive firms are larger and hire more talented employees, which gives rise to various predictions about how pre-entry experience, firm growth rates, and firm size influence the wages firms pay to their early hires. We find that beginning with the time of entry, larger firms consistently pay higher wages to their new hires. These are firms with greater survival prospects at the time of entry based on the pre-entry backgrounds of their founders and that grow at greater rates over time, both of which are predictive of the wages paid to new hires from the time of entry onward. Our findings suggest workers are allocated to firms according to their abilities, which can give rise to enduring firm capabilities.

The Social Attachment to Place

Michael S. Dahl and Olav Sorenson

Many theories either implicitly or explicitly assume that individuals readily move to locations that improve their financial well being. Other forces, however, counteract these tendencies; for example, people often wish to remain close to family and friends. We introduce a methodology for determining how individuals weight these countervailing forces, and estimate how both financial incentives and social factors influence the probability of geographic mobility in the Danish population from 2002 to 2003. Our results suggest that individuals respond to opportunities for higher pay elsewhere, but that their sensitivity to this factor pales in comparison to their preferences for living near family and friends.

Paper has been accepted for Social Forces, February 25, 2010.

Are You Experienced? Prior Experience of Managers and the Survival of New Organisations

Michael S. Dahl and Toke Reichstein

This paper investigates the relationship between the experiences of managers and the likelihood of survival of their new firms. We take advantage of a comprehensive data-set covering the entire Danish labour market from 1980-2000. This is used to trace the activities of top ranked members of new firms prior to the founding and follow the fate of their firms after the founding.

Michael S. Dahl and Toke Reichstein (2007), “Are You Experienced? Prior Experience and the Survival of New Organizations“, Industry and Innovation. Vol. 14, No. 5, pp. 497-511. ISSN: 1366-2716. [DOI Link]

Associate Professor

As of August 1 2007, I have been promoted to be Associate Professor at my current Department. More specifically, I am now Associate Professor of Economics with special attention to Entrepreneurship and Regional Economics.