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Entrepreneurship is recognized as one of the factors stimulating economic growth and increasing economic competitiveness. In addition, the Europe 2020 Strategy has focused its attention on entrepreneurship as a key factor of economic growth, social progress, and employment. In this context, our study examines the role of entrepreneurial performance for sustaining the development of countries, focusing on a sample of European countries. We attempt to reveal if increasing entrepreneurial performance would have significant influence on improving the economic position of countries and their future economic development. Starting from the OECD-Eurostat Entrepreneurship Indicators Programme we use a set of entrepreneurial performance indicators as independent variables and examine to what extent they can influence competitiveness and economic growth, seen as dependent variables of the models. We focus on a period of 10 years (2008–2017) and we apply panel-data estimation techniques. Because the period considered includes the period of the last international financial crisis, we also include in our analysis a dummy variable. Our results emphasize that the changes in entrepreneurial performance play a significant role in enhancing national competitiveness and economic growth. Our findings contribute to the expansion of literature in the field by providing evidence on the correlation of indicators that measure entrepreneurial performance with national competitiveness and economic growth. Moreover, our findings point out the need of the policy makers to adopt measures and policies that help and stimulate entrepreneurs to become more performant because they can generate positive effects to the economy as a whole. [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]

The significant role played by youth entrepreneurship for the economic growth of countries has shift the attention of researchers to the potential entrepreneurs, and how to stimulate the enter on the market of new and innovative individuals which might have positive effects on economic development. The present research is conducted to identify the influence of some characteristics of business environment and of access to financial resources on entrepreneurial intentions of faculty students from one of the largest universities of Romania. We conducted the study on a sample of undergraduate and master students, by applying a questionnaire. The main objectives of this paper are to analyze how the young potential entrepreneurs perceive the access to finance for start-ups and if this factor would be a significant predictor of the decision to become entrepreneurs of the students. In addition, our study discusses how policy makers could provide support for young people to create innovative businesses, from a financial perspective. Our findings show a high level of entrepreneurial intentions among the interviewed students, but also that easy access to financial resources is the most important obstacle identified by the students with entrepreneurial intentions. Young entrepreneurs encounter significant obstacles in trying to obtain the necessary financial resources, because they do not have a market history or sufficient guarantees. Access to information and fewer business regulations were also identified as factors with a significant contribution on entrepreneurial orientation of youth. The implications of the study are significant for potential policy intervention, because emphasize the need of the policy makers to stimulate young entrepreneurs by promoting policies that allow young entrepreneurs greater access to finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Entrepreneurship is considered a significant determinant for the economic development of a country but is also important for new job creation and innovation. Understanding and examining the factors which affect the decision of individuals to become entrepreneurs play a significant role for the decision makers in order to identify the adequate measures that can support and develop the entrepreneurial activity. The main purpose of this paper is to identify the key factors that determine entrepreneurial motivations of individuals, but also to analyze empirically the impact of these factors for a sample of 18 countries members of the European Union, for a period between 2002 and 2015. We performed our empirical analysis using data offered by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and the World Bank. We used panel data regression models. As dependent variables for our econometric models, we used, alternatively, total entrepreneurial activity rate, necessity driven entrepreneurial activity, and opportunity-driven entrepreneurial activity. As regards the independent variables considered, we took into account six macroeconomic indicators and four indicators which measure the perceptions and attitudes regarding entrepreneurship. The results of the panel data regression models show that the entrepreneurial motivations are influenced by the level of economic development of a country and total tax rate (only necessity entrepreneurs), unemployment rates, inflation rates and access to financial resources. Also, all the considered perceptual indicators (fear of failure, entrepreneurial intentions, perceived capabilities, and opportunities) have a significant effect on entrepreneurship according to its motivation, but these effects differ according to the motivation of individuals. Overall, this paper emphasizes that the economic conditions from an EU country but also the perception of entrepreneurs are important determinants of entrepreneurial motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small and medium enterprises are an important part of a country's economy and are a significant source for creating value added, employment, innovation and economic growth. Because of this improving their performance is a major concern of the specialists in the field. Through this paper we intend to evaluate the evolution of the SMEs performance between 2008 and 2014, but also to determine the factors that are influencing the growth of the value added of SMEs in the Central and Eastern European countries. In order to achieve the objectives proposed we use as methods the comparison of indicators and multiple linear regression models. The results obtained show that a part of the considered macroeconomic performance indicators, such as: total tax rate, exports of goods and services and private final consumption are statistically significant and have a strong influence on the SMEs performance. Also we observe important differences according to firm size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving SME's performance is a major concern because they are a significant source for creating value added, employment, innovation and economic growth. Through this paper we analyse the evolution of the SMEs performance in terms of employment in the last years, and we try to determine which of the macroeconomic performance indicators are influencing the growth of SME's employment in seven CEE countries. To achieve the objectives we use correlation and multiple linear regression models on panel data. The results show that GDP, total private final consumption, gross capital formation and wages have a strong influence on SMEs employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]