ENTREPRENEURIAL CLUSTERS IN EUROPEAN UNION. A MACROECONOMIC COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Entrepreneurship represents the mechanism by which economic change leads to progress and development. Although at EU level a common framework exists for supporting entrepreneurship, there are significant differences among Member States. The purpose of this article was to identify different categories of EU countries according to their entrepreneurship dynamics and to investigate the relationship between this phenomenon and the business environment. Statistical data were provided by harmonized international sources, which allow comparisons, and cluster analysis method was used. The research results indicate the existence of four clusters (Experimentalists, Ambitious, Prudentials and Moderates) each having a distinct profile. For each group, macroeconomic factors that explain these variations were identified. Based on these results, suggestions for future research directions and recommendations for policy makers were formulated.