Title: Cooperative entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico

Authors: Marinés Aponte; Marta Álvarez

Addresses: Department of Finance, School of Business Administration, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, Puerto Rico ' Institute of Statistics and Computer Information Systems, School of Business Administration, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, Puerto Rico

Abstract: The existing entrepreneurship literature shows that research on commercial venture creation is quite broad, whereas research on cooperative startups is rather limited. This article focuses on the entrepreneurial framework conditions (EFCs) for cooperative entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico. The authors base their analysis on data obtained from the 2013 National Experts Survey (NES) conducted as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). This exploratory study reveals that experts in the cooperative sector believe that the majority of the existing EFCs need improvement, even though Puerto Rico has a comprehensive framework for the support and development of the cooperative sector. Among the four conditions evaluated by the experts as the worst, three are in areas in which there exist specific organisations and legal framework: 1) education and training in cooperative entrepreneurship in primary and secondary levels; 2) financial support; and 3) commercial and legal infrastructure (legal and professional support in the process of cooperative startups).

Keywords: cooperative entrepreneurship; cooperative enterprises; business creation; entrepreneurship framework conditions; EFC; Global Entrepreneurship Monitor; GEM; Puerto Rico.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2017.087028

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2017 Vol.32 No.3, pp.386 - 401

Received: 16 Dec 2015
Accepted: 13 Jun 2016
Published online: 05 Oct 2017 *

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