ENTREPRENEURSHIP DYNAMICS IN EU. A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

The important role of entrepreneurship in the economic growth, creation of new jobs and innovation as well as the reduction of social inequalities has led to an increasing interest of academics and policy makers at various levels in examining the dynamics of entrepreneurship in different countries, in order to identify the segments that require the utmost support of public authorities. Thus, the main aim of the paper is to investigate the dynamics of entrepreneurship depending on the lifecycle of business in 26 EU Member States with regard to the key indicators established in the literature. The research uses descriptive analysis techniques applied to the annual data provided by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for the period of 2008-2015. With regard to the dynamics of entrepreneurship the results of our research highlight the existence of major disparities among countries, especially those with similar levels of economic development, and a strong correlation of the level of the economic development of countries and the entrepreneurial activity. The analysis conducted in our study may prove useful to the decision makers at both European and national level, in order to identify appropriate measures to promote and support entrepreneurship.