The entrepreneurial performance of the Central and Eastern European regions

The theoretical concepts about entrepreneurship have changed since the last three decades. It has become one of the most crucial factors in the economic processes. These changes in the theories about entrepreneurships have been supported by the shift in the whole economic environment. If we look the comparison of the managed economy and the entrepreneurial economy (Audretsch and Thurik 2001), it can be seen clearly those shifts which contributed to become entrepreneurship an important factor in the economic development. Entrepreneurships are embedded in that socio-economic environment, where they continue their economic activity. The entrepreneurship is influenced by those negative and positive factors (for example other institutions and actors, connections, externalities) which can be attributed to regional factors. It can be assumed that the regional context of the institutional and individual factors has a crucial role in the entrepreneurial performance of a given territory. If the definition of entrepreneurship has been looked, it can be observed that entrepreneurship is a multi-dimensional concept. This multi-dimensional character would require a complex view and measure of entrepreneurship. The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI) is a measure of entrepreneurship based on a system view (Ács et al 2013). Its methodology has been applied for the regional measurement of entrepreneurial performance which is called Regional Entrepreneurship and Development Index (REDI) (Szerb et al 2014). The REDI components, so-called pillars, have two components, and consequently two types of variables reflecting to the parts of the individual and institutional context of entrepreneurship. This paper focuses on the entrepreneurial performance of Central and Eastern European (CEE) regions which have been measured by the REDI. The performances of the CEE countries are compared with other European regions and they have been analysed on their own as well. It can be observed that CEE regions have relatively poor entrepreneurial performance amongst the European regions. As the regions' performance were compared to one another it can be observed that there are some factors which are weak not only on the regional but on the national level as well. One of the most important characters in the CEE regions is the high difference between the capital city and the other regions. It could mean that the economic weight and the entrepreneurial performance of the non-capital regions are relatively small.