Public policies for entrepreneurship and internationalization Is there a government reputation effect?

Purpose The main concern of policymakers is to avoid the problems resulting from the economic crisis. One way to avoid these problems is to stimulate economic growth, as well as the economic activity, needed to reduce unemployment and increase well-being. Recent academic literature shows entrepreneurship as a key factor to increase economic growth, so it is important to understand a set of concepts related to this topic and their relevance to the economic growth of these firms. The purpose of this paper is to analyse some concepts about public policies associated with entrepreneurship and the internationalization processes of firms. Design/methodology/approach The findings result from a number of multivariate techniques based on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2012 survey. Findings The data allowed calculating a coherence index that shows that respondents tend to associate the different responses, which suggests that there is a reputation effect when experts evaluate public policies. Research limitations/implications - This paper takes advantages of one of the GEM limitations, i.e. data refer to perceptions, rather than on real data, to explore how different countries see a more or less dispersed perception of public policies effectiveness. Practical implications - This paper informs policymaking and sheds light into the importance of building on a reputation to make policies more effective. Originality/value The coherence index developed in this paper is an original contribution, based on the dispersion of experts' perceptions on the effectiveness of public policies.