Institutions and entrepreneurship in MENA countries

Abstract

This chapter describes the concepts of entrepreneurship and institutions and reviews and categorizes the different types of institutions and entrepreneurship. After this, the factors influencing entrepreneurship are identified and classified into two categories—institutional and non-institutional. It is also known that economic, legal, managerial, educational, social, cultural, and political environments affect entrepreneurship. In this chapter, only institutional factors are taken into account, and their theoretical relationship is examined. The conclusion is that institutions are important in the entrepreneurial process. Entrepreneurs can also play an important role in the process of institutional change; thus, a bidirectional causal relationship is found between institutions and entrepreneurship. In the empirical section, the status of institutional quality, the entrepreneurial environment, and the relationship between them in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries are analysed. It is concluded that the status of these variables is inadequate and opportunity-driven entrepreneurs can create institutional changes in these countries.