Universities Fostering Business Development: The Role of Education in Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship And Economic Development

In recent decades, entrepreneurship, the social and economic phenomenons associated with the creation of new companies, has been gaining importance as a development strategy. Developed and developing countries are especially looking to capitalize on a formula that creates entrepreneurship through public policy, economic blocks and multilateral entities. An example of this is the “Green Paper on Entrepreneurship in Europe,” published by the European Commission in 2003.

This association between business creation and socio-economic development comes from new approaches companies bring to generating value, incorporating new technologies in their respective economic sectors and absorbing qualified human resources (Matiz, 2006). Businesses do this in addition to paying taxes and staking their chains of command.

Various studies, applied in different locations, have shown the benefits of new businesses, especially those with greater dynamism. They are a significant source for employment, innovations, creative energy, and renewal of the business sector and the region’s economy (Audretsch & Thurik, 2001; Kantis et al, 2002; OCDE, 1999, 2001; Reynolds et al, 1999).

In this sense, research in entrepreneurship is still a young research area in academia (Matiz 2009; Veciana 1999; Vesper, 1996). Entrepreneurship began its development in the 1970s. Since then it has become a strategy not just for business development, but also for research and instruction in the academic arena.