Entrepreneurial activity and regional development

摘要

There are many global and national analyses that provide conclusive scientific support to various theses which stress the importance of entrepreneurship. In this article, based on the relevant data from Croatian counties, we specifically examine the mutual dependence and dual causality of the concepts of regional development and entrepreneurial activity. We apply correlation and dynamic panel data analysis on the set of data from Croatian counties with levels and relative changes of the selected regional growth indicators (GDP per capita, registered unemployment rate, development index) and the indicators of entrepreneurial activity (the number of entrepreneurs per 100 residents).The results of these analyses show the complexity and ambiguity of impact of level of regional development and economic growth on the growth of entrepreneurial activity Croatian counties, depending on the studied indices and the manner of observing them either through their particular levels or their relative changes in time. Results of testing the impact of level and growth of entrepreneurial activity on economic growth are however consistent and robust to different indicators reflecting economic growth. Showing that there exists a significant positive impact of entrepreneurial activity on economic growth.