Cross-national differences in entrepreneurial activity: role of culture and institutional factors

A review of literature in entrepreneurship and public policy suggests that the level of political freedom, corruption, and education are important antecedents to the rate of entrepreneurial activity in nations. However, empirical analysis of the effect these factors have on entrepreneurial activity across nations remains ambiguous. This study proposes that the cultural context of nations moderates the effect of these factors. Consistent with this argument, it investigates the role of individualism-collectivism in moderating the effect of political freedom, corruption, and education on entrepreneurial activity across nations. Macro-level data on 84 nations is obtained from multiple reliable sources and used to test the hypotheses. Results support the theorized arguments and suggest that individualism positively moderates the effect of political freedom, negatively moderates the effect of corruption, and positively moderates the effect of education, on the rate of entrepreneurial activity across nations.