The Influence of Competitiveness and Regulations on Entrepreneurial Activity in Emerging and Advanced Economies

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the link between business regulations, pillars of competitiveness, and new firms at country level using a structural equation model. The research developed to support this paper is based on the idea that entrepreneurship, measured as the process of new firm formation, is a vital link to the economic growth of countries. The data used belongs to a sample of 41 countries with emerging and advanced economies that appear simultaneously in three databases: The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR), and the Doing Business Report (DBR). At country level, the process is hindered by the competitiveness conditions of the country’s phase of economic development, and by the regulation and institutional arrangements that shape economic activity.

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship
• entrepreneurial activity
• competitiveness
• regulation
• economic activity