This dissertation distinguishes the potential causalities of country-level entrepreneurship (CLE). The literature reveals structural differences among nations, noting that more advanced countries have an improved foundation of financial resources and stronger infrastructure of telephone and Internet lines, along with roads and railroads to adequately service businesses. I gather from the literature that there are six main factors to which references are often made. These factors can be organized into an original 2x3 model so as to provide symmetry to the study. From this matrix I infer six independent variables and determine how these variables forecast CLE intensity by taking the characteristics of a nation’s abilities into account. These variables are divided into the two categories (the matrix’s columns) of resources and infrastructure, and then these categories are further partitioned into three clusters each (the matrix’s rows) consisting of their specific physical, movable and virtual realms. Following up with empirical research, I select and compile a data set of 183 countries and then I divide them into three classes, based upon their levels of gross national income (GNI) per capita, as the underdeveloped, developing and fully developed. (Some nations fell out of the analyses due to lack of data). My study undertakes a dual research thrust, the first of which entails hypotheses on the similarities and dissimilarities in entrepreneurial activity between the three categories of world countries from an entrepreneurial and innovative competitiveness standpoint.
A dual question is: For those country classes, could my dependent variables to be tested also be viewed as new proxy variables for entrepreneurship and determined by comparison with the more customary entrepreneurship measures? The literature review uncovers that entrepreneurship researchers traditionally use either Business Entry Rate (new registrations as a percentage of the total) or New Businesses Registered pc (the number of registrations on a per capita basis) as vital indicators and proxy measures for CLE. Since entrepreneurship data of this type are often unreliable for the underdeveloped nations but not the others, a distinctive approach to provide some alternate proxy variables appears more appropriate. Invention being an important contributor to entrepreneurship, I take into account a country’s intellectual property rights and propose using Royalties Paid and Royalties Received as more convenient, alternate proxies for the customary ones. Regressed separately on all six independent variables of my proposed 2x3 matrix, these alternate proxies of CLE appear comparable to the two customary proxies. As seven of the hypotheses were supported, with four of them strongly supported, this study makes a contribution towards an understanding of country-level entrepreneurship by practitioners and academics.