Title: What are the significant determinants of entrepreneurship?

Authors: J. Stephen Ferris; Marcel-Cristian Voia

Addresses: Department of Economics, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada. ' Department of Economics, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, Canada

Abstract: In this paper, we use data from the OECD structural and demographic business statistics database and the entrepreneurship indicators programme to test the impact of a broad set of cultural, institutional, and economic determinants on the birth of new enterprises, the death rate of enterprises, and a net and gross measure of the two. We find that while all determinant categories exhibit some degree of explanatory power, the categories of access to knowledge, entrepreneurial capabilities and access to finance rank highest as determinants of entrepreneurial activity.

Keywords: principal component analysis; PCA; informational asymmetries; finance; regulatory environments; significant determinants; OECD; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; structural business statistics; demographic business statistics; cultural determinants; institutional determinants; economic determinants; new enterprises; explanatory power; knowledge access; entrepreneurial capabilities; entrepreneurial activities; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; entrepreneurs; entrepreneurship indicators.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2012.050163

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2012 Vol.17 No.4, pp.415 - 454

Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

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