Please read the following:Thurik, A. R. and Wennekers, A.R. M. (2001). “Entrepreneurship, Economic growth and the significance of the GEM project” In Reynolds, P.D., Camp, S. M., Bygrave , W. D., Autio, E. and Hay, M. (Eds.), Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2001: Summary Report, London Business Schools and Babson College.

I think the answer to this is that it depends on where and when you're talking about. In some places , yes But in many places most in need of economic and employwemtn growth to counter the effects of past phases of economic and industrial decline based on large-scale employment of wage labour - no, with some qualificastion. For the legacy of dependence upon wage labour is often a culture that is unsuited to entrepreneurial growth in the formal economy - though not necessarily so wiuth respect to the informal and illegal economie - coupled with an economy that remains depressed and so offers few market opportunities to emergent SMEs and entreprenneurs..

Our studies of the 'enterprise architectures' of South African towns (e.g. Toerien DF and Seaman MT 2012 Regional order in the enterprise structures of selected Eastern Cape Karoo towns, South African Geographical Journal 94, 137-151) revealed a number of regularities(or proportionalities) that might help to address the answer to your question. In particular there are highly significant correlations (P

Dear Mohamed '

Daan had provided useful comments based on statistical generalization. However, entrepreneurship is a context sensitive concept which cannot be captured from statistical sampling. Because, every individual has recursive interaction with the context.

Research I have carried out to compare role of contexts on entrepreneurial behavior (opportunity exploitation behavior) in different contexts, explores that self-evolving societies do not possess opportunity seeking behavior. In contrast , entrepreneurs embedded in hostile or turbulent contexts inclined to opportunity seeking and exploiting behavior. therefore entrepreneurship will not be a viable solution where there is a self-evolved society with self-contained individuals (i.e. Bhutan, Sri Lankan rural societies).

Hi Upananda

I think you are in danger of too easily dismissing the use of statistics (not just statistical sampling) as a tool to add to our understanding of entrepreneurship. Let me use an example from another scientific discipline, i.e. ecology, to illustrate. Ecology had been around for a long time before MacArthur and Wilson introduced their Theory of Island Biogeography in 1967. May remarked later: "Insofar as any one event can be said to mark the coming of age of ecological science as a discipline with a theoretical/conceptual base, it is the publication" of their monograph. The lesson is obviously that once we can describe entrepreneurial phenomena in quantitative terms we have passed beyond the narrative or story line stage of understanding and we have developed quantitative predictive powers. So the challenge to me seems to be whether your interpretations lend themselves to quantitative treatment?

Dear Sir,

Thanks for illustrating a familiar topic for me to attack you easily. Island biography is, first observation then theory. finally statistics for publication. Can you statically explain why kangaroos are confined only to Australia ? .

However, there is no substitution for appreciating intelligent answers.

Here is a sketch of some theoritical justifications.

Leon Walras carved out the role of the entrepreneur as a fourth person besides land owners, workers, and capitalists in the growth process. The entrepreneur “lease land from the land-owner, higher personal faculties from the labourer, and borrow capital from the capitalist, in order to combine the three productive services in agriculture, industry or trade...the different ways in which these roles may be combined give rise to different types of enterprise.” (Walras, “Elements of Pure Economics,” 1969, Augustus Kelley Reprints, p. 222) Under competition, the role of the entrepreneur “is an intermediary whom we may disregard”. Under monopoly, the entrepreneurs levy a certain portion of the wealth exchanged for their own use.” (Walras, Ibid., pp. 438-439).

Walras thought that the role of the entrepreneur is not distinguished form the capitalists in the English School. (Ibid., p. 423) This is not quite true for “Smith does speak of the ‘undertaker’—or industrialists, who, ‘inspection and direction’ being brushed aside, are fundamentally capitalists or masters ‘setting to work industrious people’ and appropriating part of the product of ‘their work’ (See Schumpeter His. Of Eco. Analysis, p. 184, on Wealth of Nation, ch. 6).” Schumpeter also attributes entrepreneurship to R. Cantillon: “Cantillon had a clear conception of the function of the entrepreneur (ch. 13). It was quite general, but he analyzed it with particular care for the case of the farmer. The farmer pays out contractual incomes, which are therefore ‘certain,’ to landlords and laborers; he sells at prices that are ‘uncertain.’” (Ibid., p. 214) Schumpeter is also a source to look up the justification of the entrepreneur from the point of view of other schools of thought.

The Austrians also recommend the entrepreneurs. Suffice to consider F. Hayek main viewpint. Entrepreneurs may have haunches (knowledge and information) about a new product that cannot be made public, and therefore that much reason to have them around. (Hayek, “Fatal Conceit,” 1988, Collected Works, p. 89)

Developing countries tend to have a small entrepreneurial class. The old theory that replaced successful foreign enterprise with domestic one did not seem to work. A newer trend in joint venture seem more promising. (Paul Streeten, “Thinking about Development,” Raffaele Lecture, 1995, Cambridge Press, p. 154)

When viewing above answers all of us are trapped in a box: businesses. However, entrepreneurship does not confined to business but for many things that may contribute to economic growth. Take for example, sports, politics, arts. If some one combines resources to produce something that had not existed before, it could be entrepreneurship.

http://www.unevoc.unesco.org/up/VC_YE_BN_en.pdf

http://unctad.org/en/Docs/webiteteb20043_en.pdf

http://ondernemerschap.panteia.nl/pdf-ez/h200824.pdf