ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

This study examines the impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth by using a new variable based on patent data to proxy for productive entrepreneurship. Data on self-employment is used as an alternative proxy. The study considers 22 OECD countries and finds a positive relationship between the proposed measure of productive entrepreneurship — degree of innovativeness of different nations — and economic growth, while the alternative measure, based on self-employment, appears to be negatively correlated with economic growth. A battery of econometric specifications and techniques backs the findings.