The mental map of Dutch entrepreneurs. Changes in the subjective rating of locations in the Netherlands, 1983-1993-2003

inspection of the two maps, however, reveals that there actually was a shift in the
locational preferences of Dutch entrepreneurs: the rating of places in the central areas
has decreased.

Figure 1 Average rating of locations
1a 1983

1b 2003

A more detailed impression of the process of shift is given by Figure 2. It shows the
changes in the rating of individual locations in the period 1983-1993 and 1993-2003,
respectively. In the decade following the first survey, the decrease in the rating of places
was concentrated in the Western Netherlands (Figure 2a). The results of t tests per place
reveal that the decrease was significant for 10 locations, concentrated in the western part
of the Randstad Holland and in the new province of Flevoland. In the second half of the
study period, the area of decrease has shifted eastward, covering the eastern part of the
Randstad and adjacent areas in the provinces of Gelderland and North Brabant (Figure
2b). The t tests show a significant decrease in rating for 25 locations, concentrated in
these areas, within and just outside the -0.2 isopleth. Upward shifts in ratings have been
relatively small during the first decade, and they were not statistically significant for any
of the places covered by the survey. In the second decade, they were practically
nonexistent.

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