Abstract
The main goal of public intervention is to amend market imperfections. However, public agencies may also have other goals in supporting entrepreneurship and promotion of self-employment. The aim of the paper is to analyze the impact of the funding granted by the Małopolska Agency for Regional Development (Małopolska Agencja Rozwoju Regionalnego SA, MARR S.A.) dedicated to beneficiaries from the Tarnow subregion and the Krakow Metropolitan Area. The research goals were defined as follows: (1) To verify if the basic assumptions of the program are correct and to demonstrate that it is an important element motivating the professionally inactive to take up employment as sole entrepreneur. (2) To verify if the program participant structure (both applicants and beneficiaries), with subdivision into place of residence, gender, age and the labor market status, is correct. (3) To verify if the abovementioned variables (gender, age, place of residence) significantly differentiate the applicants’ chance of obtaining a grant. The results are of key importance and should be used in formulating assumptions, regulations and guidelines for subsequent program editions. Due to the demonstrated diversity of the target group in the respective regions, it should be decided whether to differentiate the criteria for participation in the project depending on the region.
Highlights
Entrepreneurship plays an important role in the development of the economy and society [1]
Research Results found that Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant
The study of the program participant structure may indicate the target group with the greatest interest in self-employment and help to better prepare the editions of the program, both at the regional and national level. This is of particular importance for the programming of the spending of public funds allocated to the promotion of entrepreneurship and self-employment
Summary
Entrepreneurship plays an important role in the development of the economy and society [1]. Entrepreneurs-to-be are motivated by, e.g., the need for self-fulfillment and personal satisfaction [2,3,4], accumulating wealth [5], increasing one’s social status, the need for autonomy [6,7], the need to find a work-life balance [8], to gain invaluable experience, to realize one’s own potential, and job satisfaction [9]. Among many motives for making the decision about starting a business, the most important are economic factors [10,11]. Despite the strong motivation to establish a business, entrepreneurs face a number of difficulties, such as lack of work experience and financing [14]. Research shows [15,16,17] that the capital market is the driving force of economic growth. The greatest sources of capital are: the entrepreneurs’ own funds [18], loans from family members [19], own funds, including savings [20], and public funding [21,22,23]
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