A multidimensional approach to the environment for entrepreneurship in selected CE countries

Abstract

Nations around the world are bent on creating an efficient and inclusive socio-economic environment and ethos for enterprises and business. The aim is to create a business setting and system of innovation in which standard macroeconomic policies are more effective and increase private sector development and economic growth. The research and innovation system in Central Europe (CE) has not been studied in sufficient depth, at either the theoretical or empirical level. Apart from their similar pattern of transition from planned to mixed economy, the national research and innovation systems of the selected countries evolved into rather diverse systems in terms of their size, enterprise composition, research intensity and structural configuration. The countries’ economic profiles play a crucial role in their integration with the EU and their global competiveness. The economic structure, level of research, technological development, human resources in science and technology (HRST), innovation, and SME competitiveness clearly testify to the diverse level of the region's economic competitiveness. The aim of this article is to describe the differences among selected Central European countries in order to demonstrate that efforts to build a single European innovation system are still far from complete. Selected composite indices such as the Global Innovation Index (GII), the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), and the Global Enabling Trade Index (ETI) show that countries in Central Europe need improvements in terms of competitiveness, innovation and technology development. Economies’ performance as regards the environment for entrepreneurs was also analysed based on several composite indices with sufficient complexity to capture the multidimensional nature of entrepreneurship. The article concludes that an efficient use of European structural and investment funds (ESIF) and the application of smart specialisation strategies are promising mechanisms for European integration processes.