IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bba/j00001/v4y2025i2p1-17d404.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Entrepreneurship: The Driving Force for Economic Growth in the Twenty-First Century in the European Union

Author

Listed:
  • Rafael Acevedo

    (Menard Family Center for Economic Inquiry, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA)

  • Maria Lorca-Susino

    (Econintech, Miami, FL, USA)

Abstract

Economic growth rests on entrepreneurship and capitalism. Entrepreneurship is important because entrepreneurs work unceasingly to create, use, and disseminate new products and productive techniques to raise living standards. Capitalism is characterized by private property rights, a free market, and the pursuit of profit, which are driving forces for innovation and productivity and in turn economic growth. Using six proxies for economic growth, our results show that capitalism, measured by the Economic Freedom of the World Index, and entrepreneurship, measured by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data set, fostered economic growth in member states of the European Union between 2000 and 2021.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafael Acevedo & Maria Lorca-Susino, 2025. "Entrepreneurship: The Driving Force for Economic Growth in the Twenty-First Century in the European Union," Journal of Economic Analysis, Anser Press, vol. 4(2), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bba:j00001:v:4:y:2025:i:2:p:1-17:d:404
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.anserpress.org/journal/jea/4/2/98/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.anserpress.org/journal/jea/4/2/98
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan-Egbert Sturm & Jakob De Haan, 2001. "How robust is the relationship between economic freedom and economic growth?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(7), pages 839-844.
    2. Andrei Shleifer & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Rafael La Porta, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    3. Keith Head & Thierry Mayer, 2019. "Brands in Motion: How Frictions Shape Multinational Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(9), pages 3073-3124, September.
    4. Andrei Shleifer, 2009. "The Age of Milton Friedman," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 123-135, March.
    5. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    6. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Robinson, James A., 2005. "Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 385-472, Elsevier.
    7. Edward F. Denison, 1962. "Education, Economic Growth, and Gaps in Information," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(5), pages 124-124.
    8. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/mlkvtnbqe9pg8nsvf612mcnbs is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson & Thierry Verdier, 2017. "Asymmetric Growth and Institutions in an Interdependent World," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(5), pages 1245-1305.
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/mlkvtnbqe9pg8nsvf612mcnbs is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Edward F. Denison, 1962. "Education, Economic Growth, and Gaps in Information," NBER Chapters, in: Investment in Human Beings, pages 124-128, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Prof. Dr. Adem KALCA & Resc. Assist. Atakan DURMAZ, 2012. "Diaspora As The Instrument Of Humane Capital," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 2(5), pages 94-104, October.
    2. Daren, Conrad, 2007. "Education and Economic Growth: Is There a Link?," MPRA Paper 18176, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2009.
    3. Chauffour, Jean-Pierre, 2011. "On the relevance of freedom and entitlement in development : new empirical evidence (1975-2007)," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5660, The World Bank.
    4. Conrad, Daren, 2017. "Education's Contribution to Economic Growth," MPRA Paper 77365, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Daniel Oto Peralías & Daniel Oto-Peralías & Diego Romero-Ávila, 2012. "Tracing the Link between Government Size and Growth: The Role of Public Sector Quality," EcoMod2012 4015, EcoMod.
    6. Santos, João & Borges, Afonso S. & Domingos, Tiago, 2021. "Exploring the links between total factor productivity and energy efficiency: Portugal, 1960–2014," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    7. repec:wvu:wpaper:10-15 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Castro, Vítor & Martins, Rodrigo, 2021. "Government ideology and economic freedom," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 73-91.
    9. Morck, Randall & Deniz Yavuz, M. & Yeung, Bernard, 2011. "Banking system control, capital allocation, and economy performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 264-283, May.
    10. Alali, Walid Y., 2010. "Impact of Institutions and Policy on Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 115610, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Audi, Marc & Ali, Amjad & Fayad Hamadeh, Hani, 2022. "Nexus among innovations, financial development and economic growth in developing countries," MPRA Paper 115220, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Beck, T.H.L., 2010. "Legal Institutions and Economic Development," Other publications TiSEM 8aa07b48-ce55-4cf6-8754-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Jinfeng Luo & Yi Wen, 2015. "Institutions Do Not Rule: Reassessing the Driving Forces of Economic Development," Working Papers 2015-1, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    14. Ho Thuy Ai & Ping, Lin, 2018. "Impacts of fiscal policy on economic growth: Another look from institutional perspective," Economics Discussion Papers 2018-45, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    15. Azariadis, Costas & Stachurski, John, 2005. "Poverty Traps," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 5, Elsevier.
    16. Kumar, Sanjesh & Singh, Baljeet, 2019. "Barriers to the international diffusion of technological innovations," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 74-86.
    17. Maximiliano Marzetti & Rok Spruk, 2023. "Long-Term Economic Effects of Populist Legal Reforms: Evidence from Argentina," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 65(1), pages 60-95, March.
    18. Andrea Asoni, 2008. "Protection Of Property Rights And Growth As Political Equilibria," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 953-987, December.
    19. Stern, David I. & Gerlagh, Reyer & Burke, Paul J., 2017. "Modeling the emissions–income relationship using long-run growth rates," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(6), pages 699-724, December.
    20. Rok Spruk & Mitja Kovac, 2018. "Inefficient Growth," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 9(2).
    21. James B. Ang & Jakob B. Madsen, 2012. "Risk capital, private credit, and innovative production," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(4), pages 1608-1639, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bba:j00001:v:4:y:2025:i:2:p:1-17:d:404. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ramona Wang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.anserpress.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.