The entrepreneurial gains from market integration in the new EU member states

This paper investigates the impact of economic integrations on entrepreneurial outcomes. The study bridges a gap between the literature on entrepreneurship and trade by exploring how international trade and global value chain (GVC) integration influence the share of start-ups and high-growth firms in manufacturing industries in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) member states of the European Union (EU) during the 2011-2016 period. Exports, imports, and forward GVC participation increase the share of start-ups and high-growth firms, and these effects are evident in low- and high-technology-intensive industries. The effects of trade and GVC integration are more pronounced among the first group of CEE that joined the EU than among latecomers.