National institutions and the allocation of entrepreneurial effort

This paper examines how the allocation of entrepreneurial effort within a country is influenced by the country’s institutional environment. We hypothesize that the likelihood that entrepreneurs launch a growth-oriented start-up is associated with the institutional environment in which entrepreneurs are embedded. We test our hypothesis using data on 44 countries over the three-year period from 2002 to 2004. The data are drawn from two sources: the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and the World Economic Forum’s Executive Opinion Survey. Our findings indicate that the likelihood of a growth-oriented start-up is positively related to a country’s level of human capital targeted at entrepreneurship and the level of regulatory protection, but is negatively related to the extent of corruption and mistrust in public officials.