Business formation during the coronavirus pandemic. A regional analysis considering knowledge and technological intensity

ABSTRACT

The topic of business formation is especially relevant today when humankind faces the biggest global crisis since World War II. The protection of jobs and workers is vital, and a plethora of measures have been implemented since the outburst of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Remote activity interactions, whether forced or voluntary, shaped the economic landscape, restructured organizations, and reallocated the workforce across industries. In such context, this study investigates the dynamics of business formation in Romania throughout the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. Business formation registered significant growth in the second half of 2020, surpassing the level of the previous year. The analysis is performed at regional level, for 42 administrative regions, considering the intensity of knowledge and technology levels of industries in which new business was formed, according to the Eurostat classification of industries. The score of Knowledge and Technology Intensity (KTIRS) is calculated at regional level. The clustering of regions resulted in 6 cluster templates, given the industrial structure of new business formation. © 2021, Bucharest University of Economic Studies. All rights reserved.