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Entrepreneurship in Developing Economies Transformation Barriers
Entrepreneurship in Developing Economies Transformation Barriers
Entrepreneurship in developing
economies: transformation, barriers
and infrastructure
Claudine Kearney and Robert D. Hisrich
INTRODUCTION
103
IMPORTANCE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN
DEVELOPING ECONOMIES
Entrepreneurship is a key driver for innovation and economic growth
and development. Fueled by entrepreneurship, developing economies go
through stages of growth, improving the financial viability of nations. The
role of the entrepreneur as a significant contributor of economic growth
and employment creation in society has gained considerable attention
both in literature and policy of developed and developing economies
(Lauder, Bookcock and Presley, 1994).
Roles and functions of entrepreneurship vary over time and across devel-
oped and developing economies. These variations are partly explained by
the interdependencies between economic development and institutions
(Acs, Bardasi, Estrin and Svejnar, 2011). A major determinant of eco-
nomic behavior and transactions, institutions can directly and indirectly
affect both the supply and the demand of entrepreneurs (Acs et al., 2011).
Policies set by institutions can affect entrepreneurship activity, which in
turn shape economic development.
Current research makes the following three observations. (1) While
in general, entrepreneurship enhances economic growth (for example,
Carree and Thurik, 2003; Audretsch and Keilbach, 2004; Van Praag and
Versloot, 2007), however, Van Stel, Carree and Thurik (2005) find that
entrepreneurial activity by budding entrepreneurs and owner/managers
of new businesses only enhances economic growth for countries with
a high level of per capita income. (2) High-growth businesses, usually
started by opportunity entrepreneurs, typically make a more significant
contribution to economic growth than newer and smaller scaled firms
(for example, Friar and Meyer, 2003; Wong, Ho and Autio, 2005). (3)
With an abundance of policy measures focusing on entrepreneurship
or small businesses (for example, Landstrom and Stevenson, 2005; Acs
and Stough, 2008) and high-growth firms being the main focus of policy
makers (for example, Fischer and Reuber, 2003; Smallbone, Baldock and
Burgess, 2002), researchers have given limited attention to policies affect-
ing the contributions entrepreneurs add through the diverse aspirations
and created opportunities that help growth in developed and developing
economies. Policies directed at particular industries and sectors can affect
entrepreneurs differently in their contribution to economic growth. In
Since the late 1970s, the world has witnessed fundamental economic
transformation in former centrally planned economies. One of the core
objectives of the transformation is to improve the economic performance
of a nation. The degree of transformational success is determined, to a
large extent, by whether the institutional environment has become more
conducive to drive entrepreneurial activities and whether firms respond
to such change by adopting strategies aimed at enhancing performance.
Economic development has emerged as a result of the structural transfor-
mation of countries from traditional societies to modern economies influ-
BARRIERS TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP
●● Regulatory:
Creating an environment conducive to entrepreneurship and
business creation requires supportive policies, including fiscal
and monetary policies that are necessary for a stable macro-
economic environment, and structural policies that determine
the economic framework in which the business operates.
Strict regulations can become a major barrier of entrepreneur-
ship and business creation. Legal barriers to entry should be
avoided unless their importance can be justified. An example
of a barrier to entry includes the numerous legal forms of busi-
ness, each with different policies, procedures and registration
requirements. Exit barriers may also inhibit entry because
exit and entry rates are usually interconnected. When a busi-
ness enters a new market, it is exposed to risk associated with
investing in non-transferable and often illiquid assets without
INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT
CONCLUSION
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