nep-ent New Economics Papers
on Entrepreneurship
Issue of 2025–05–19
eight papers chosen by
Marcus Dejardin, Université de Namur


  1. Creating Businesses in the Least Developed Countries: Does the Regulatory Environment Matter? By António Afonso; M. Carmen Blanco-Arana
  2. Startup Dynamics: Transitioning from Nonemployer Firms to Employer Firms, Survival, and Job Creation By Alicia Robb; Adji Fatou Diagne
  3. Geography, Institutions, and Entrepreneurship By Mohammad Reza Farzanegan; Rajeev K. Goel; James W. Saunoris; Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
  4. Experimenting or Iterating? Exploring Entrepreneurial Retailers’ Digital Business Activities Through Visual Data Generation - Insights From a Research-Based Teaching and Learning Project By Daniel Nauck; Martin Nowak; Michael Herzog
  5. Embedding Innovation and Entrepreneurial Culture in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Cambodia By Chea, Vybol; Chautagnat, Jean Luc; Sophat, Phon
  6. Mitigating the Impact of Household Expropriation on Female Entrepreneurship : Experimental Evidence from Ghana By Francisco Moraes Leitao Campos; Conconi, Adriana; Elwyn Davies; Marine Gassier; Markus Goldstein
  7. The effect of information communication technology on entrepreneurship: Evidence from rural China By Komatsu, Sho; Nguyen-Phung, Hang Thu
  8. The Impact of Financial Support to Firms During Crises: The Case of Covid Aid in the EU By Giulia Canzian; Elena Crivellaro; Tomaso Duso; Antonella Rita Ferrara; Alessandro Sasso; Stefano Verzillo

  1. By: António Afonso; M. Carmen Blanco-Arana
    Abstract: This paper assesses the impact of the regulatory environment on the new business creation in 45 Least Developed Countries (LDC) using a panel data from 2000 to 2021. Empirical evidence, derived from a fixed effects (FE) model, indicates a strong relationship between business regulation and new business creation in LDC. This suggests that the regulatory framework of a country is a crucial factor that influences entrepreneurial decisions and can significantly contribute to economic growth. The overall economic situation of a country also has a positive and significant impact. Additionally, factors such as accessibility to financial services, political stability, control of corruption, and economic freedom clearly affect the establishment of new businesses in these countries. Similar results are obtained using the Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimator, through the use of a dynamic panel data approach. Finally, business regulation is also strongly associated with new business creation in OECD countries.
    Keywords: new business, regulatory environment, FE, GMM, panel data, LDC.
    JEL: M20 G18 C23
    Date: 2025
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11838
  2. By: Alicia Robb; Adji Fatou Diagne
    Abstract: Understanding the dynamics of startup businesses' growth, exit, and survival is crucial for fostering entrepreneurship. Among the nearly 30 million registered businesses in the United States, fewer than six million have employees beyond the business owners. This research addresses the gap in understanding which companies transition to employer businesses and the mechanisms behind this process. Job creation remains a critical concern for policymakers, researchers, and advocacy groups. This study aims to illuminate the transition from non-employer businesses to employer businesses and explore job creation by new startups. Leveraging newly available microdata from the U.S. Census Bureau, we seek to gain deeper insights into firm survival, job creation by startups, and the transition from non-employer to employer status.
    Date: 2025–04
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:25-26
  3. By: Mohammad Reza Farzanegan; Rajeev K. Goel; James W. Saunoris; Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
    Abstract: The geographic spread of nations would pose logistics challenges in production, distribution and servicing, impacting costs, with implications for entrepreneurship. Using panel data from 62 countries spanning the years 2006 to 2021, we find that of the different oceanic geographic dimensions considered, the number of islands undermines entrepreneurship. Thus, the geographic scatter of a nation, in terms of the number of islands, does not foster entrepreneurship. The length of the coastline or being an island itself seem to not matter significantly in this regard. This main finding holds across different modeling variations. As expected, better institutional quality encourages entrepreneurship. The mediation analysis, to dissect the direct and indirect effects (through institutions) of geography reveals that the impact of the number of islands can work through institutional quality (as well as directly) to undermine entrepreneurship. Besides the considering of the number of islands, the spillovers of oceanic geography through institutions on entrepreneurship form the novel contributions of this work. However, the mediation analysis highlights a critical insight: geographic fragmentation, particularly in countries with numerous islands, weakens the positive impact of institutions. This is likely due to institutional fragmentation failing to align with geographic fragmentation. Some implications for policy are discussed.
    Keywords: entrepreneurship, geography, institutions, islands, coastline, latitude, economic freedom, mediation analysis.
    JEL: L26 P48 O17
    Date: 2025
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11831
  4. By: Daniel Nauck (Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Science, Faculty of Economics); Martin Nowak (HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen, Faculty of Management, Social Work, Construction); Michael Herzog (Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Economics)
    Abstract: Scholars and policymakers have discussed the emphasis on entrepreneurial growth, especially the importance of cooperation with local and regional stakeholders (e.g. local politics, social or innovation networks, or collaboration with regional universities) to gain inner-city economics resilience and to attract owner-managed retail (OMR) and support entrepreneurial SMEs. We aim to contribute to the discussion by adding an entrepreneurial learning perspective, using insights from an exploratory case study research project, which examined efforts made by entrepreneurial retailers in terms of digitalization during the COVID-19 pandemic through the support of their social network. In doing so, we are introducing and discussing the use of visual data collection within an ego-centered qualitative network analysis (ENA) framework, introducing the method in an entrepreneurship and business management research context.
    Keywords: Entrepreneurship, Digital business, Retail, Ego-centred network analysis
    JEL: I25 L81 O00 R11
    Date: 2024–12–15
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoh:conpro:2024:i:5:p:220-228
  5. By: Chea, Vybol; Chautagnat, Jean Luc; Sophat, Phon
    Abstract: Higher education plays an important role in training human resources with real competencies, knowledge, and skills. In this context, it’s improving the quality of higher education is a necessary and urgent thing to do, as Cambodia has a vision of becoming a high-middle-income country by 2030. Innovation and Entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation, and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. Innovation and Entrepreneurship refers to an individual’s ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation, and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. This helps everyone in daily life at home and in society, increases employee awareness of the context of their work and their ability to take advantage of opportunities, and forms the basis for entrepreneurs starting a business or social enterprise. An international phenomenon, entrepreneurship has a favorable impact on economic growth worldwide through the birth of fresh and creative business start-ups. Because of their beneficial effects on the economy, these new small firms help create jobs and persuade lawmakers to acknowledge and encourage entrepreneurial start-ups. Cambodia is concerned with promoting entrepreneurship to all people in order to develop successful entrepreneurs. Several entrepreneurship programs have been developed by the government and higher education institutions (HEIs) to support these entrepreneurship movements, but very little is known about the effectiveness of these entrepreneurship programs’ implementation. Therefore, this study has been evaluated to what extent the effectiveness of entrepreneurship subjects in Cambodia which has been selected as the target for higher education levels in the Siem Reap, Kampong Cham and Battambang province. This study uses case study methods and was carried out in two stages. The first stage is a descriptive and evaluative phase. Here, the study focused on the mapping of existing learning and institutional support within HEIs. To gain a better understanding of learning experiences that prepare students to become successful entrepreneurs, data exploration on the learning process within HEIs is assessed from internal viewpoints. The explanation phase is stage two. During this phase, the concepts, categories, and propositions derived from the phenomena are discovered and developed in order to provide a theory and platform for entrepreneurial learning.
    Keywords: Innovation, Education
    Date: 2025
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:316321
  6. By: Francisco Moraes Leitao Campos; Conconi, Adriana; Elwyn Davies; Marine Gassier; Markus Goldstein
    Abstract: How do intrahousehold dynamics affect the investment of female entrepreneurs? This paper presents findings from a randomized controlled trial in Ghana that assesses the impacts of four alternative support mechanisms on women-owned businesses: (a) an unconditional grant provided through a mobile money account equivalent to two months of median profits, (b) an unconditional grant disbursed to the female entrepreneurs’ spouses in similar conditions; (c) a grant conditional on participating with their spouses in a training on joint decision-making; and (d) a grant conditional on reaching a savings goal under a dedicated bank account. In line with Fafchamps et al. (2014), the study finds no impacts of the unconditional grants on the business performance of female entrepreneurs. The disbursement to the spouse also has no impact on the sales, profits, or investment of female entrepreneurs. Although there is no evidence that the allocation of resources within households is efficient, the joint decision-making intervention leads to increased household support for the women’s businesses but does not impact business performance. The savings support mechanism leads to a 15 percent increase in sales and a 10 percent increase in profits. These effects are largest among female entrepreneurs who faced high expropriation pressure at baseline. This subgroup obtains a 29 percent increase in sales and a 23 percent increase in profits. The paper tests for alternative mechanisms, including self-control issues, liquidity constraints, and access to savings, but these do not explain the results. The findings substantiate that intrahousehold dynamics matter for women’s investment decisions, and highlight the importance of promoting autonomy in the face of expropriation pressures, for increased growth and investment.
    Date: 2025–05–02
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11111
  7. By: Komatsu, Sho; Nguyen-Phung, Hang Thu
    Abstract: As entrepreneurial dynamism is widely recognized as a driver of innovation and economic growth, it is important to understand the determinants of entrepreneurship. However, there is little literature examining the role of ICT and its potential mechanisms of individual entrepreneurship in rural China. This study investigates the effect of ICT utilization on entrepreneurship and its potential mechanisms by using China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data from 2014 to 2020. We identify Internet use via computers, Internet use via mobile devices, and Internet use by computer or mobile devices as proxy variables for ICT utilization. Our empirical results indicate that ICT utilization has a significant and positive effect on entrepreneurship in rural China. The results remain robust after a series of robustness tests. This study also finds that the effect is heterogeneous by gender, generation, educational background, and regions. Furthermore, mechanism analysis shows that the Internet can promote entrepreneurship by facilitating access to information and the formation of social capital. The above finding in rural China will have important implications for economic development and poverty reduction in other developing countries.
    Keywords: information communication technology, Internet use, entrepreneurship, rural China
    JEL: L26 O18 O33 R11
    Date: 2025–03
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agi:wpaper:02000184
  8. By: Giulia Canzian; Elena Crivellaro; Tomaso Duso; Antonella Rita Ferrara; Alessandro Sasso; Stefano Verzillo
    Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic caused a global economic crisis, leading governments to provide substantial State Aid to support firms. This paper examines the effectiveness of Covid-related financial support in Spain and Italy, focusing on its impact on firm recovery. Using a difference-in-differences (DiD) approach combined with propensity score weighting, it compares outcomes of similar firms receiving aid to those without. The results show significant benefits for micro-firms, including mitigated turnover declines and increased investments in both tangible and intangible assets. The findings highlight the critical role of government support in business survival and recovery, especially for SMEs, during the pandemic.
    Keywords: state aid, aid effectiveness, temporary framework, Covid, firm growth, investment, difference-in-differences.
    JEL: D04 D22 L25 L52 P43
    Date: 2025
    URL: https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11835

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