Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis

This paper proposes a new variable based on patent data to proxy for productive entrepreneurship. Data on self-employment is used as an alternative proxy. In particular, the paper studies the impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth by using these two measures. 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. The findings are backed by a battery of econometric specifications and techniques.