This paper compares the contribution by regions to net enterprise growth in the traditional economy with the online platform-enabled economy for the UK and Germany from 2010 to 2015. Our study shows that the growth in eBay-enabled firms is more evenly spread across regions in both countries. We also find it to be less concentrated to regions with high GDP per capita levels than traditional enterprise growth. In short, more regions and more poor regions are able to contribute to total enterprise growth in the platform-enabled economy than in the traditional economy. Our findings point to the online platform model being a powerful tool for driving more inclusive and broader participation in entrepreneurial activity and for expanding access to economic opportunities throughout a country. We believe that this should be reflected in national policies and actions aimed at promoting regional and rural development.
What’s in the report?
Read eBay’s Ohio Online Business Growth Report: Summit County and Trumbull County Retail Revival to gain insights into the trade and growth of eBay-enabled small businesses in Ohio and the US. In addition, the report includes an analysis of new enterprise formation on eBay compared to the traditional economy in Summit and Trumbull counties from 2011 to 2015. Key findings include that nearly every eBay-enabled small business in Ohio (and the US) is an exporter, that these enterprises experience growth rates that exceed their state economy average, and that small business growth is more geographically inclusive on eBay than in the traditional economy - including greater rates of growth in rural communities and other areas outside of economic hot spots.