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A Systems View Across Time and Space

Table 1 Definition of variables and data sources a

From: Medium term effects of culture, transactions and institutions on opportunity entrepreneurship

 

Variables

Definition

Source of elements

OPP

Opportunity entrepreneurship

It is the dependent variable. The percentage of 18–64-year-olds who are either nascent entrepreneurs or owner-managers of new businesses, who (1) claim to be driven by opportunity rather than necessity and (2) indicate that the main driver for their involvement is independence or increasing, rather than maintaining their income. Mean for the period 2001–2006

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)

C1, C2 and C3

Performance orientation

The degree to which a society encourages and rewards its members for performance improvement and excellence

House et al. (2004) (the data were collected in the period 1995–1997)

Future orientation

The extent to which individuals engage in future-oriented behaviours, such as delaying gratification, planning and investing in the future

Gender egalitarianism

The degree to which a society minimises gender inequality

Assertiveness

The degree to which individuals are assertive, confrontational and aggressive in their relationships with others

Institutional collectivism

The degree to which organisational and societal practices encourage and reward collective distribution of resources and collective action

In-group collectivism

The degree to which individuals express pride, loyalty and cohesiveness in their organisations or families

Power distance

The degree to which members of a society expect power to be distributed equally

Human orientation

The degree to which a society encourages and rewards individuals for being fair, altruistic, generous, caring and kind to others

Uncertainty avoidance

The extent to which members of an organisation or society strive to avoid uncertainty by reliance on social norms, rituals and bureaucratic practices to alleviate the unpredictability of future events

TI

Composite risk

This is the weighted average of individual risk indicators (political, financial and economic risk). The larger the value, the lower the level of risk for the country. It is the mean for the period of 1995–2005

PRS Group (ICRG database)

Starting a business

Time is recorded in calendar days. This measure captures the median duration that incorporation lawyers indicate is necessary to complete a procedure with a minimum follow-up with government agencies and no extra payments. It is the mean for the period of 2004–2005

Doing business reports, The World Bank Groups

Corruption perceptions index

Is a snapshot of perceptions of public sector corruption. It uses the counter-variable, so the values it can assume are between 0 (highly clean) and 10 (highly corrupt). It is the mean for the period of 2001–2005

Transparency International

Literacy rate

The ability to read and write as a percentage of total population (data period 1995–2005)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Property rights

An assessment of the ability of individuals to accumulate private property, secured by clear laws that are fully enforced by the state. It is the mean for the period of 1996–2005

The Heritage Foundation, Index of Economic Freedom (HER)

Rule of law

Measures the extent to which stakeholders have confidence in and abide by the rules of society. In particular, it focuses on the quality of contract enforcement, the police and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence. It is the mean for the period of 1996–2005

Business Environment Risk Intelligence (BRI),

BIRTH

Birth rate

The number of childbirths per 1,000 people per year (2009 data)

CIA World Factbook

PAT

Patents

Total number patents applied by a country in a year (2008 data)

Global Innovation Index 2009-2010