The effect of social, cultural, and economic factors on entrepreneurship

Current economic downturn encourages extensive research into economic growth engines, with entrepreneurship as one of the key drivers of growth. Although crucial, determining which variables stimulate entrepreneurial activity constitutes a difficult task due to interrelated factors. This study analyzes three groups of factors affecting entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs' perceptions of opportunity: social, cultural, and economic variables. Therefore, this study employs the partial least squares method for two groups of countries: (I) European countries, and (2) Latin-American and Caribbean countries. This approach identifies how these factors' effects differ across different countries. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.