Entrepreneurship: Determinants and Policy in a European-U.S. Comparison

David B. Audretsch and Roy Thurik

April 2002

Policymakers throughout Europe and the U.S have responded to rising concerns about unemployment, jobs, growth and international competitiveness in global markets with a new mandate to promote the creation of innovative new businesses. While recent literature identified clear and decisive links between entrepreneurship, growth, job creation and international competitiveness, policy makers were initially slow to recognize these links. Without a clear and organized view of where and how entrepreneurship manifests itself, policy makers have been left in uncharted waters without an analytical compass.