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The short- and long-term effects of public debt on economic growth in EU countries is analyzed in this paper, using data that covers a period of 25 years (1995–2019). For public debt, we used a proxy general government gross debt (as a percentage of GDP), while for economic growth, we used the real GDP per capita growth rate. In addition, our models include a set of control variables to highlight the impact of other determinants on economic growth. We utilized several econometric methodologies related to ARDL (autoregressive distributed lag models), such as the pooled mean group (PMG), the mean group (MG), and the dynamic fixed effects (DFE) models. The results of the study show that in both the short and long term, an increase in public debt is negatively and significantly associated with economic growth. Specifically, in both the short- and long-term analyses, the estimated coefficients of public debt were statistically significant and negative, while the magnitude of the negative impact on economic growth differed. In view of these findings, we consider both the rigorous monitoring of the level of public debt and the control of public allocation to support economic growth to be of major importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory and practice suggest that entrepreneurship is the engine of economic growth. The speed with which a nation moves from economic growth to economic development depends on the performance of entrepreneurial initiatives. Given the role played by entrepreneurship for the development of an economy, increasing its performance can help the development of national markets and the increase in national competitiveness. The main objective of our paper is to investigate the link between entrepreneurial performance and economic development of countries. The research was carried out on a sample of 27 European Union countries in a period of twelve years. We used panel data regression models. As dependent variables for expressing the economic development, we considered the global competitiveness index and the gross domestic product per capita growth. As independent variables, we used a set of indicators measuring entrepreneurial performance. Our findings highlight the significant role played by increased entrepreneurial performance for enhancing the economic development of EU countries. We also find that some indicators expressing entrepreneurial performance might have different effects on the economy depending on the stage of economic development of countries. Our research provides empirical evidence regarding the need for performant entrepreneurial activities for enhancing economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship plays a major role in national economies, being considered one of the main engines of economic growth, and an important contributor to creating new jobs and innovations. Identifying the main determinants of entrepreneurial activity is important for helping the decision makers in adopting adequate measures to support the creation and development of new businesses. The turbulent economic environment in recent years dominated by economic and financial crises, resulting in a reduction in economic growth but also in an increase in unemployment, has led decision makers to turn their attention again to the determinant factors of entrepreneurship. Starting from those stated above, through this paper we aim to investigate the impact of some macroeconomic, individual and business environment-related factors on the dynamics of entrepreneurial activity in 18 European Union (EU) countries for a period of 14 years (2002-2015). We use three regression models and we apply panel data fixed effect model approach. The results of our study highlight that inflation rate, foreign direct investments, access to finance and total tax rate are the main macroeconomic determinants of entrepreneurship. Also, we find that all individual business-related factors considered in the analysis have a significant impact on total entrepreneurship rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper examines the potential effect of different types of entrepreneurship (in particular, early-stage entrepreneurship, opportunity-driven entrepreneurship, and necessity-driven entrepreneurship) on economic growth at a national level and aims to identify whether the contribution of entrepreneurship to economic growth differs according to the stage of economic development of a country. Our empirical analysis is based on the panel data, which covers 17 years (2002–2018) and 22 European countries, classified into two groups. The results suggest that all three types of entrepreneurship have a greater impact on economic growth for the entire sample of European countries, and some types of entrepreneurship are more important than others. We find that opportunity-driven entrepreneurship and early-stage entrepreneurship would be key factors in stimulating economic growth across the sample of European countries. Our estimations also show that opportunity-driven entrepreneurship would have a greater impact in transition countries, while necessity-driven entrepreneurship would have a stronger influence in the innovation-driven countries. The results of our research could be of interest to policymakers, as it can help in identifying and implementing the most appropriate measures to eliminate the obstacles in the macroeconomic environment that entrepreneurs face, and measures to support innovative entrepreneurial activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accelerated development of information and communication technology (ICT) over the past two decades has encouraged an increasing number of researchers to examine and measure the impact of this technology on economic growth. Our study aims to identify and evaluate the effect of using ICT infrastructure on economic growth in European Union (EU) countries for a period of 18 years (2000–2017). Using panel-data estimation techniques, we investigate empirically how various indicators of ICT infrastructure affect economic growth, proxied in our study by GDP per capita. Within the estimates, we have included some macroeconomic control variables. Our results indicate a positive and strongly effect of using ICT infrastructure on economic growth in the EU member states, but the magnitude of the effect differs depending on the type of technology examined. Regarding the impact of macroeconomic factors, our estimates indicate that inflation rate, unemployment rate, the degree of trade openness, government expenditures, and foreign direct investments would significantly affect GDP per capita at EU level. The findings are broadly similar to the theoretical predictions, but also to the findings of some relevant empirical studies. Our research reveals that ICT infrastructure, along with other macroeconomic factors, is an important driver of economic growth in EU countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]