What Can Be Learnt from Relating Cultural Indicators and Entrepreneurship in Arab Countries?

Purpose - The aim of the paper that is to underline the economic and social policies needed for the promotion of entrepreneurship as this is an area that has benefited from initiatives that have failed throughout the Arab economies. Moreover, the paper tries to find out ways for the promotion of appropriate cultural values that could help promoting further, the creation of enterprises through the enhancement of entrepreneurship. This paper looks at the links between cultural variables, knowledge indices and entrepreneurship in Arab countries. Design/methodology/approach - In order to undergo the research the authors will use a regression analysis, hypothesis testing as well as secondary data on Arab countries. These data cover Hofstede's cultural dimensions and variables related to enterprise creation that will be retrieved from several databases like Doing Business and World Bank. For further analysis, the outputs from Arab countries are also compared to those from the Eastern European economies as both groups of countries went through liberalization after a period of heavy government intervention. Originality/value - The innovativeness of the paper resides in the search for cultural determinants of entrepreneurship as these are related to individuals with their specific cultural characteristics. The use of Hofstede's cultural dimensions is an important step towards looking for the link between entrepreneurship and the cultural values of each arab country. In addition, the outcomes of the paper have important value for both academia and policy makers as entrepreneurship is connected to specific cultural values that relate to the context in which enterprise creation policies are conducted. Moreover, this paper promotes the role that culture plays in knowledge economy and entrepreneurship in Arab countries. Practical implications - The outcomes from this paper are directly geared towards policy makers and those that are operating in the area of enterprise creation and development. In the context of a given country, different locations and regions might exhibit varieties of cultural dimensions that could affect the results of local initiatives focusing on entrepreneurship. Enterprise creation and entrepreneurship promotion policies need to be accounting for local cultural specificities. They should not be universal and omitting the cultural values that could drive for their entrepreneurship need to be promoted over time besides the implied specific instruments.