Analysis of Selected Aspects of Entrepreneurship Support on the Level of European Union
Martina Repnik, 2021, master's thesis
Abstract: Entrepreneurial activity contributes various benefits to a country, one of the most impactful gains being the growth of GDP. Because of that, it is important for policymakers to put in place policies, which encourage and foster entrepreneurial activity- both on a national as well as international level. On an international level, the EU plays a major role in supporting entrepreneurial activity in Europe. For that purpose, the EU institutions are enforcing entrepreneurship-related policies and are establishing programs and funds, which benefit European enterprises. Special emphasis is placed on supporting the entrepreneurial activities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the backbone of the economy. SMEs represent more than 99% of all enterprises in a country, and they create two out of three jobs. Because of their importance, the EU strives to provide a suitable environment and support for them to grow and exist in the long run. EU member countries exploit the offered support to different extents, which means that the EU support affects European companies and member countries in different ways. In this thesis, we explored the role of the EU in connection to entrepreneurial support and activity. Based on our research, we found very noticeable differences between more and less developed EU countries in terms of the amount of exploited EU support. We discovered that most of the time, more developed EU countries tend to exploit EU entrepreneurial support to a bigger extent, than less developed countries do. That is because less developed countries often lack the ability to set up suitable programs that could qualify for EU funding. We also discovered that less developed countries tend to have higher levels of early-stage entrepreneurial activity than more developed countries do. We have found that this is because citizens in these countries often create their businesses out of necessity, not so much because they perceived a good business opportunity. In less developed countries, where the economical state of the country is less stable and there is a lack of available job offers, citizens are pushed to entrepreneurship out of necessity in order to survive. Related to that, we also discovered that less developed countries dedicate more of their EU funds to SMEs than more developed countries do. But as they lack the proper entrepreneurial ecosystem, these enterprises often fail. Because of that, as it most often occurs out of necessity, high levels of entrepreneurial activity in a less developed country do not quite indicate a well-established national entrepreneurial system. Finally, based on all the data we collected and analyzed in this thesis we have found that entrepreneurial support offered by the EU has been increasing over the years. That is because in the last decades there has been a big increase in the number of programs and funds being established, which focus specifically on SMEs. The same can be seen with the number of entrepreneurial policies being enforced by the EU, as entrepreneurship became one of the main EU priorities.
Keywords: entrepreneurial support, entrepreneurship activity, EU funding, access to finance, economic development
Published: 23.12.2021; Views: 48; Downloads: 11
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Entrepreneurship in a New Reality
Miroslav Rebernik, 2021
Abstract: Entrepreneurship is the strongest driver of economic growth and development and has a very large impact on overall social development. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) has a history of 22 years of entrepreneurship research, with a special focus on the earliest stages, when business opportunities are perceived and individuals decide whether to engage in entrepreneurship. Their direct living environment, especially the prevailing cultural values, the company's tendency to entrepreneurship and the orderliness of the business environment, have a great influence on the involvement of individuals in entrepreneurial activities. Accordingly, the conceptual framework of GEM is set, which enables the treatment of individuals and their attitude towards entrepreneurship, perception of entrepreneurship and involvement in the establishment and / or ownership and management of a company. With its help, we can therefore gain a deeper insight into national entrepreneurship and its characteristics and a more complete picture than can be provided by various statistical sources based solely on data obtained from existing companies.
Keywords: global entrepreneurial monitor, entrepreneurship, total early entrepreneurial activity, economic development, entrepreneurial ecosystem
Published: 18.05.2021; Views: 248; Downloads: 6
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A Variety of Entrepreneurial Motives
Miroslav Rebernik, Karin Širec, Polona Tominc, Katja Crnogaj, Matej Rus, Barbara Bradač Hojnik, 2020, scientific work
Abstract: In the world's largest longitudinal survey, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), we have been exploring important features of entrepreneurship for 21 years, with particular emphasis on the earliest stages when business opportunities are perceived and individuals decide whether to engage in entrepreneurship. GEM was designed to (1) measure differences in attitudes towards entrepreneurship, activities and aspirations of individuals in as many countries as possible, (2) identify factors that encourage or hinder entrepreneurial activity, especially in relation to societal values, personal characteristics and the entrepreneurial ecosystem, (3) provide a platform for assessing the impact of entrepreneurial activity on economic growth in a given economy, and (4) identify the necessary policy measures to strengthen entrepreneurship. With the help of this research, we better understand society's attitude towards entrepreneurship and characteristics of the individual, such as perception of one's own abilities for entrepreneurial activity, ability to perceive opportunities, entrepreneurial intentions, and fear of failure. As GEM monitors entrepreneurial activity throughout the phases of the life cycle (nascent, new businesses and established businesses, discontinuation), according to impact (high growth, innovation, internationalization) and by type (early-stage entrepreneurship activity, employee entrepreneurship activity), the picture is much richer than the one that is based only on data gathered from ordinary statistical databases.
Keywords: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, entrepreneurship, early-stage entrepreneurial activity, economic development, entrepreneurship ecosystem
Institutional determinants and entrepreneurial action
Katja Crnogaj, Barbara Bradač Hojnik, 2016, published scientific conference contribution
Abstract: The paper examines the effect of specific institutional factors on entrepreneurial activity. In the course of the examination, we encounter various viewpoints regarding entrepreneurship and different needs of national politics. The research objective is to determine whether institutional factors influence early-stage entrepreneurial activity. There is a broad array of opinions on appropriate set of factors that influence the entrepreneurship processes, on ways of their influence and on differentiating between the developed and less developed countries. Therefore, we examined the defined research hypothesis in the light of 24 countries (Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Island, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, Uruguay and USA), in the period between the years 2006 and 2010 (24 countries * 5 years = 120 observations). The data was obtained from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database and complemented with data from other international sources such as Heritage Foundation, among others. With econometrics business methods, we determined that greater economic freedom in the institutional context of a country affects the extension of productive entrepreneurship, while the individual's decision for the entrepreneurship is conditioned significantly by the prevailing cultural and social norms.
Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial activity, institutional environment factors, entrepreneurship policy
Published: 04.07.2017; Views: 482; Downloads: 116
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Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2002: the Slovenian report
Miroslav Rebernik, Polona Tominc, Miroslav Glas, Viljem Pšeničny, final research report
Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Business demography, Companies, Entrepreneurship ecosystem, Entrepreneurial Activity
Published: 18.01.2017; Views: 1211; Downloads: 77
Country's development as a determinant of early-stage entrepreneurial activity
Miha Marič, Jasmina Žnidaršič, Miha Uhan, Vlado Dimovski, Marko Ferjan, Maja Djurica, Mitja Jeraj, Matej Janežič, 2013, original scientific article
Abstract: Our study is built on the dependence of early-stage entrepreneurial activity on GDP per capita, GDP real growth rate, unemployment rate, inflation rate, investments and public debt of different countries. We divide the early-stage entrepreneurial activity into necessity-driven and improvement-driven opportunistic entrepreneurial activity. To establish the dependencies we have conducted the regression analyses. Our three main findings are: (a) early-stage entrepreneurial activity does depend on our predictors; (b) necessity-driven entrepreneurial activity is negatively correlated to country's development; and (c) improvement-driven opportunistic entrepreneurial activity is positively correlated to country's development.
Keywords: entrepreneurship, early-stage entrepreneurial activity, economic developmnet indicators