A theoretical investigation into the cultural nature and the macroeconomic constraints of entreupreuneurial activity in the Middle East

Abstract

This paper offers a definitional review of entrepreneurship from a Middle East perspective time lapse comparative ranking of constraints to entrepreneurship in the Arab Middle East indicates that change in those constraints has been insignificant over the second half of the 20th century. The leading constraints have been the rigidity of public institutions and the overpowering patriarchal family oriented governance. The macroeconomic function of entrepreneurship in the Arab World is dependent mainly on two factors: economic incentives and socio-psychological change. These factors distinguish among 3 main geopolitical areas of the region: 1) the Gulf area with 9 countries mostly affected by economic incentives, 2) the confrontation states of the Near East with 6 countries mostly affected by socio-psychological change, and 3) North Africa with 7 countries affected by both economic and socio-psychological factors. Finally, this paper focuses particularly on one of the confrontation Near East countries: Lebanon. It lists by ranking the entrepreneurial competencies in Lebanon requiring improvement. Then it evaluates the chances of success of a business incubator in Beirut, Lebanon. At the end, it presents the results of a survey on wealth perception discrepancies between Lebanese society and the rest of the world.