Factors Which Affect Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is essential for the development of any economy. Countries which have flourished attribute their rise to the growth of entrepreneurship. Therefore, governments and people all over the world want to encourage this concept.

This article lists down the factors which contribute to the growth of entrepreneurship and therefore to the growth of the economy of any given area.

Political Factors

Political factors play a huge role in the development of entrepreneurship in a given geographical area. This is because politicians decide the type of market that is in place.

The market could be capitalistic, communist or some countries have adopted a mixed economy. Each of these three markets has very different implications for the way in which entrepreneurs are required to function.

Capitalism requires breakthrough innovation whereas communism requires entrepreneurs to be well connected with the political class. Therefore, it has been observed that the more capitalistic any country is, the more entrepreneurship flourishes in the region.

Legal Factors

Entrepreneurs are dependent upon law for a wide variety of factors. The strength and fairness of the legal system of a nation affect the quality of entrepreneurship to a large extent. This is because entrepreneurs require a wide variety of legal services to function.

For instance, entrepreneurs would require the courts to enforce the contracts that were entered to between parties.

In many countries such contracts are not enforceable and therefore the resultant risk prohibits the development of entrepreneurship. Then again, the entrepreneurs are dependent on the courts for the protection of their property rights.

Also, many advanced countries have noticed that the provision of declaring bankruptcy has been positively associated with the development of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs do fail a few times before they find the right innovation that leads to their success.

The United States is amongst the countries with the highest rate of entrepreneurial development and it is also known to have one of the most advanced bankruptcy laws! Even business legends like Henry Ford had declared bankruptcy in their early days.

Taxation

The government can also influence a high degree of control on the market through provisions of taxation.

Some amount of taxation is necessary for the government to maintain the legal and administrative systems in place for the entire economy.

However, a lot of times governments resort to excessive taxation. They usually adopt the policy of beggaring the rich and giving it off to the poor. This goes against the basic tenets of entrepreneurship which believes in survival of the fittest.

Therefore, countries where tax regimes are restrictive find an outflow of entrepreneurs. In short, entrepreneurs want to set up shop in places where there is minimal interference from the government.

Availability of Capital

The degree to which the capital markets of a nation are developed also play a huge role in the development of entrepreneurship in a given region.

Entrepreneurs require capital to start risky ventures and also require instant capital to scale up the business quickly if the idea is found to be successful.

Therefore, countries which have a well developed system of providing capital at every stage i.e. seed capital, venture capital, private equity and well developed stock and bond markets experience a higher degree of economic growth led by entrepreneurship.

Labor Markets

Labor is an important factor of production for almost any kind of product or service.

The fortunes of the entrepreneurs are therefore dependent on the availability of skilled labor at reasonable prices. However, in many countries labor has become unionized. They demand higher wages from the entrepreneurs and prohibit other workers from working at a lower price. This creates an upward surge in the costs required to produce and as such has a negative effect on entrepreneurship.

With the advent of globalization, entrepreneurs have witnessed the freedom to move their operations to countries where labor markets are more favorable to them. This is the reason why countries like China, India and Bangladesh have witnessed a huge rise in entrepreneurial activity in their countries.

Raw Materials

Just like labor, raw material consisting of natural resources is also an essential product required for any industry.

In some countries this raw material is available through the market by paying a fair price. However, in some countries seller cartels gain complete control over these natural resources. They sell the raw materials at inflated prices and therefore usurp most of the profit that the entrepreneur can obtain.

Therefore, countries where the supply of raw material faces such issues witness depletion in the number of entrepreneurial ventures over time.

Infrastructure

Lastly, there are some services which are required by almost every industry to flourish. These services would include transport, electricity etc. Since these services are so basic, they can be referred to as the infrastructure which is required to develop any business.

Therefore, if any country focuses on increasing the efficiency of these services, they are likely to impact the businesses of almost all entrepreneurs in the region. Therefore, countries which have a well developed infrastructure system witness high growth of entrepreneurship and the opposite is also true.

Of course, the above list of factors is not exhaustive. Entrepreneurship is far too complex a subject to capture in a few bullet points. However, the above list does provide an indication towards the type of factors that can play an important role.