The need for new public policies to increase entrepreneurship and spur economic growth

Purpose - The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to bring attention to the declining rate of entrepreneurship, its effect on the broader economy, the need for public policy solutions and to offer several such solutions. Government intervention is needed to address the stagnation trends discussed throughout the paper. It is up to academic scholars, researchers and think tanks to make government leaders aware of the trends and possible solutions. Design/methodology/approach - A literature review was performed and the need to increase entrepreneurship through public policies was discussed. Findings - The current ten-year economic expansion is suffering from secular stagnation as a result of diminishing new venture creation and slower adoption of technological innovations. Economic policies are heavily tilted toward large, established firms even as new entrepreneurial ventures have greater impact on job creation. The importance of using public policies to spur economic growth through greater opportunity-based entrepreneurship is discussed. Unique tax policy changes are suggested as well as a proposed national business plan competition. Originality/value - This paper makes a contribution to the entrepreneurship and public policy literature by discussing how the declining rate of entrepreneurship and slower adoption of new technology are related to the relatively tepid pace of economic expansion seen over the last decade in the US. The proposed policies focus on increasing new ventures based on opportunity-based entrepreneurship, and it is hoped that this will help in the development of other policies and spur new lines of research and knowledge that lead to increased economic growth.