ABSTRACT
Research on entrepreneurship around the globe has developed rapidly in recent years supported by projects such as the GEM initiative and rapid growth in other national and international data sources. One of the key insights from these projects has been the extent to which entrepreneurship activity varies, with levels generally higher in developing and transition economies. It is also suggested by evidence from the GEM project, however, that in some richer countries (US, Hong Kong, Iceland) higher levels of entrepreneurial activity are, at least, associated with higher levels of income. A key question for the future therefore is whether rapidly developing countries can continue their economic development and maintain high levels of entrepreneurial activity as a stimulus to further growth. The alternative, that levels of entrepreneurial activity decline as development continues, is perhaps more likely. For these countries, therefore, shaping the institutional and policy environment to sustain high levels of entrepreneurial activity will be important. Key elements of this are likely to be the legal restrictions around firm ownership (Djankov et al., 2002a), the financial system (Beck et al., 2008a), and the framework conditions for business growth (Autio et al., 2007). More direct policy intervention may also be important both to maximize the potential synergies between different enablers of entrepreneurial activity (Avnimelech et al., 2007) and to ‘create advantage’ through developments in the innovation system (Cooke and Leydesdorff, 2006).
