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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]

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]

This paper analyses the main economic factors that are influencing the competitiveness of Central and Eastern European (C.E.E.) countries. The research was carried out on a sample of ten countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia), over the period 2004-2016. These countries were grouped by their stage of economic development, respectively: efficiency driven economies, in transition between efficiency and innovation and innovation driven economies. An econometric analysis on panel data was used, considering as a dependent variable the competitiveness of a country, quantified by the Global Competitiveness Index. As independent variables, we took into account a set of seven macroeconomic and business environment indicators which could have an impact on a country's competitiveness. The results obtained show important differences between countries, but also some resemblance. Although all the considered countries are emerging ones, the factors that have a significant influence on the competitiveness differ significantly. Thereby, if for efficiency-driven countries, G.D.P., inflation rate, trade, labour productivity and costs are important determinants of competitiveness, for innovation-driven countries the determinants of competitiveness are: G.D.P., inflation rate, tax rate, F.D.I., trade and costs. As regards the C.E.E. countries in transition only G.D.P., inflation rate and labour productivity are determinants of competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze whether the Romanian economic context confirms the Armey model, and present the relationship between public spending and economic growth that may offer a suitable basis for decision makers. The analysis is based on both annual and quarterly data regarding public spending and economic growth in Romania. After investigating the correlation validity, the analytic results did not confirm the premises related to the Armey Curve for the Romanian context during 1990-2011. However the time interval is marked by unpredictable phenomena such as the transition from the state economy to the market economy and the world financial crisis, both is altering the results. The fact determines us to search the coordinates for developing a new model that describes better the connections and the period characteristics. [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]