Abstract
For the European Union, innovation and entrepreneurship are strong vectors to overcome global societal challenges from climate change and sustainable energy to food and healthy living. Innovation is a facilitator of entrepreneurship and a way of empowering people to take charge of their lives and economic prosperity. At the same time, entrepreneurship is the answer to innovation, the concepts of innovation and entrepreneurship being undeniably interrelated. This research proposes assessing the potential for innovation and entrepreneurship in EU countries in the context of sustainable development. With the help of hierarchical clustering analysis, EU countries were classified into four relevant clusters on the basis of the variables considered, which allowed the identification of common features and existing differences. The research was conducted using data provided by the Global Innovation Index, Global Entrepreneurship Index, Eurostat database, and Candriam ESG Country Report at the level of the 27 EU countries. The main results revealed high-performing countries in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship potential, providing relevant information for policy-makers, business practitioners, NGOs, and academics on the direction they need to take for good practice models to be adapted and implemented in countries with sub-optimal performance, to provide them with support for improvement of their innovation and entrepreneurship potential.
Highlights
In recent years, an increasing number of researchers, as well as other stakeholders, are becoming more concerned about the constant changes in contemporary human society in terms of promoting entrepreneurship and innovation for sustainable development
Given the interest in the role played by ESG dimensions and the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship for sustainable development, this paper aims to assess the potential for innovation and entrepreneurship in EU countries, and identify how these aspects influence the distribution of EU countries on clusters of performance through cluster analysis
Four significantly different clusters were determined in terms of potential for innovation and entrepreneurship in EU countries in the context of sustainable development (Tables 5–8)
Summary
An increasing number of researchers, as well as other stakeholders, are becoming more concerned about the constant changes in contemporary human society in terms of promoting entrepreneurship and innovation for sustainable development. The importance of raising awareness of as many individuals as possible, taking into account both the level of unique individuals and their role as acting in the name of public institutions, private companies, or NGOs, is underlined by the growing impact that climate change has on our day-to-day life. Since 1987, with the publication of the Brundtland Report, the definition and popularization of the concept of sustainable development has led to a growing recognition of it, such that in recent years it has become increasingly evident that it is the only way forward to meet the needs of generations present without compromising the chance of future generations to enjoy at least the same level of well-being [1]. We note significant concerns towards changing the role of regional innovation organizations and policies related to society’s transition to a sustainable economy. We identify special attention paid to policies that support the development of the regional innovation system by creating regional innovation organizations conceptualized today in “hubs” specialized in global innovation networks of sustainable production [3]
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