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Minority groups contribute to the economic growth and development of local, regional, and national economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities are increasingly being pressured to perform their third mission, playing as a catalyst of technological change, innovation, and societal and economic development. Universities respond to the emerging challenges combining their traditional roles with an entrepreneurial agenda. This entrepreneurial academic spirit allows a collaboration, as equal partners, with government and industry, creating the conditions for innovation and the emergence of the Entrepreneurial University (Ent_Uni). This scenario is crucial to address how universities' dynamics and initiatives are related to entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems (Ent_Eco). Despite being widely explored concepts, the Ent_Uni and Ent_Eco are still fragmented and muddled in the literature, holding a wide margin for theorization development. Based on the bibliographic coupling of document references performed in Bibliometrix, a spectrum of six main research topics was identified to understand the dynamics of the Ent_Uni and Ent_Eco concepts. Lastly, we offer a future research agenda that could deepen the scientific knowledge on entrepreneurial settings [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a diverse range of research on the factors enabling informal entrepreneurship as well as the means to avoid or to eradicate its incidence. Several researchers argued that venture capital and financial flows, in general, contribute to economic growth and development. There have also been observations of how the investor level of trust in institutions facilitates investment decisions. This trust comes into play at the level of informal entrepreneurship and the ability of governments to control this type of entrepreneurship. Given that a great deal of research on this subject focuses its analysis on developing countries, we have chosen to investigate the reality of European countries precisely because of the scarcity of studies on the effect of informal entrepreneurship in this context. Our research aims to assess how informal entrepreneurship effects on venture capital flows. We use aggregated data at country level collected from a variety of sources, including the World Bank, Organization for Cooperation and Development and World Economic Forum, between 2006 and 2015 and 23 countries in Europe, corresponding to 230 observations (panel no. balanced). Through econometric estimation, which took place according to methodologies based on multiple regression models for panel data, the results demonstrate how informal entrepreneurship has a negative moderating effect between GDP and venture cUKapital flows. We intend to contribute to a better understanding of the effect of informal entrepreneurship on the flows of venture capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently a renewed surge of interest in informal entrepreneurship around the world. One of the motives stems from how such entrepreneurship shapes and influences a substantial part of the global workforce. However, we may also verify how a major proportion of the research in this field focuses on developing economies and thus justifying the application of such analytical approaches to countries with different levels of economic development as is the case with Europe. Our research objectives, on the one hand, involve analysing the impact of R&D investment on informal entrepreneurship and, on the other hand, the moderating effect of the level of economic development on their innovative capacities and informal entrepreneurship results. To this end, and in accordance with Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, we divide the countries of Europe into two stages of development and may report that the higher the level of economic development, the greater the innovative capacity and, furthermore, the lower informal entrepreneurship becomes. The same holds for R&D investment with its increase being inversely proportionate to informal entrepreneurship. We, therefore, seek to contribute toward a better understanding of the problematic framework of informal entrepreneurship, in particular in the European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have become increasingly important in national and international markets because they contribute to the development of local and national economies. SMEs often face serious challenges when competing with multinational companies. The purpose of this paper is to develop a method for assessing SMEs' competitiveness.Design/methodology/approach Based on a constructivist epistemology, this study makes an integrated use of cognitive mapping and the measuring attractiveness by a categorical-based evaluation technique (MACBETH). To this end, face-to-face sessions were conducted with a panel of entrepreneurs and senior managers who deal with the challenges of maintaining SME competitiveness every day. The proposed assessment system was tested and validated by the panel members.Findings The methodological processes adopted in this study provide promising results for decision makers seeking to identify the most competitive SMEs. Specifically, the results emphasize, among other points, the importance of innovation and the human dimension to gaining competitive advantages.Research limitations/implications The evaluation system developed in this study is extremely versatile and confirms the usefulness of integrating cognitive mapping and MACBETH to facilitate evaluations of SME competitiveness. However, due to its idiosyncratic and process-oriented nature, generalizations need to be done with caution.Practical implications The proposed method can be valuable to researchers seeking to develop mechanisms for evaluating SMEs' entrepreneurial performance and include specialized know-how and sensemaking in organizational decision-making processes.Originality/value The integrated use of cognitive maps and MACBETH contributes to a better understanding of how to assess SMEs' competitiveness. No prior work reporting the use of this dual methodology in this study context has been found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This paper focuses on the issue of global competitive advantage of nations, based on the dimensions analyzed by the World Economic Forum in assessing the economic competitiveness of a large sample of countries. From the different stages of development of the countries, this study aims to help us to recognize what variables better explain the global competitive advantage of economies.Design/methodology/approach Following quantitative analysis, results based on PLS show what dimensions within each economic development stage best explain the global competitive advantage of economies.Findings Beyond the institutions, infrastructure and regulation of the markets, higher education and training, the technological readiness, the business sophistication and innovation contribute greatly to explain the competitive advantage of economies.Originality/value Understanding the drivers of global competitive advantage of nations, this study may help academics to conduct new studies, as well as politicians to define intervention priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the linkage of innovation and entrepreneurship to economic growth in countries with different levels of development.Design/methodology/approach Following quantitative analysis, the authors carry out three empirical approaches to examine the effects of innovation and entrepreneurship on competitiveness. In accordance with their initial study framework, they test the conceptual model of competitiveness through applying descriptive statistics, structural equation modelling (SEM) and hierarchical cluster analysis. Descriptive statistics and SEM data sources from the Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum were analysed for 148 countries. The hierarchical cluster analysis furthermore analysed Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data on 67 different countries.Findings The study confirmed that innovation and sophistication factors are crucial to the competitiveness of economies. The study also revealed the definition of five clusters relative to the competitive performance of advanced economies following the introduction of new entrepreneurship variables.Originality/value This research aims to open up avenues for the development of regional competitiveness studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study involves the analysis of the scientific outputs on informal entrepreneurship (IE hereafter) over the period from 1990 to 2016. We deploy a combination of bibliometric techniques such as citations, bibliographic coupling as well as approaching the social networks established. We sourced the contents thus analyzed from the online Thomson/Reuters-ISI database and the online Scopus database run by the Elsevier Publishing Company, which returned a total of 44 and 95 publications for analysis, respectively. From among the 139 articles analyzed, the journals Entrepreneurship and Regional Development and Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship stand out as the publishers of the largest number of articles. We encounter studies on IE in developing countries as a low-income activity that contributes to the economic development of the region. The motivations and the determinants of informality are common to the majority of the scientific outputs and effectively serving as the analytical basis either for arguing in favor of the formalization of the business. Another aspect present in the literature interrelates IE with the quality of governance and economic liberalization. This analysis facet ensures IE gains in scientific profile within the ongoing context of discussions over neoliberalism and its effects on the world economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relevant literature recognises Schumpeterian and Kirznerian entrepreneurship as mechanisms that can impact economic growth. This article seeks to explore the effects of these two types of entrepreneurship on economic growth across the three GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) economic ecosystems (factor-driven economy, efficiency-driven economy, innovation-driven economy). Using different databases, we applied unbalanced panel data for 43 countries (2009–2013). By estimating the econometric models, we were able to calculate the effects of these two types of entrepreneurship on economic growth in the three different types of economy. In terms of the overall model for GEM economies, neither Schumpeterian nor Kirznerian entrepreneurship return any statistically significant effects on the Global Competitiveness Index or on GDP growth. However, the Total Early-Stage Entrepreneurial Activity variable generates a positive effect on the Global Competitiveness Index. The results presented in this paper provide insights into entrepreneurship and the GEM entrepreneurial economic ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]