Abstract
It is time that Europe took another look at entrepreneurs, as it did between the First Industrial Revolution and the Second World War, and enabled them to help solve our problems and to make our society better. When it comes to entrepreneurship, however, the problem with Europe is not only the lack of early-stage entrepreneurs, but also the lack of growth among start-up companies. In the quest for new ways to tackle the big issues, entrepreneurship-friendly policies are an almost-zero-cost path that may reinvigorate the stagnant economic system without increasing deficits. ThinkYoung highlights three main problems with tackling youth unemployment through higher rates of entrepreneurship: the lack of entrepreneurship education, the imperfect and incomplete single market, and the stigma of failure. We are in the midst of the Third Industrial Revolution: Europe can decide to embrace it, be open and focus on its competitive advantage in order to provide a future for its youth, or it can decide to do nothing and be left behind.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berghoff, H., & Möller, R. (1994). Tired pioneers and dynamic newcomers? A comparative essay on English and German entrepreneurial history, 1870–1914. The Economic History Review, 47(2), 262–287.
Brewer, A. (1992). Richard Cantillon: Pioneer of economic theory. London: Routledge.
Cantoni, D. (2009). The economic effects of the Protestant Reformation: Testing the Weber hypothesis in the German lands. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.
Casson, M. (1995). Entrepreneurship and business culture. Studies in the economics of trust (vol. 1). Aldershot, UK: Edward Elgar.
Collins, B. (1990). American enterprise and the British comparison. British Culture and Economic Decline, 182–3.
Decugis, G. (2013). Two models of success for European start-ups. Tech.co, 4 September. http://tech.co/european-startups-2013-09. Accessed 28 October 2013.
European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry. (2012). Effects and impact of entrepreneurship programmes in higher education. March. http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/_getdocument.cfm?doc_id=7428. Accessed 30 October 2013.
Fan, W., & White, M. J. (2002). Personal bankruptcy and the level of entrepreneurial activity. Journal of Law and Economics, 46(2), 545–567.
Gerschenkron, A. (1962). Economic backwardness in historical perspective. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
Gerschenkron, A. (1966). Bread and democracy in Germany. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Giannetti, M., & Simonov, A. (2004). On the determinants of entrepreneurial activity: Social norms, economic environment and individual characteristics. Swedish Economic Policy Review, 11(2), 269–313.
Harvey, D. (1990). The condition of postmodernity. An enquiry into the origins of cultural change. Hoboken, NJ: Blackwell Publishers.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, Behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations (vol. 2). London: Sage Publications.
Johansson, E. (2000). Self-employment and liquidity constraints: Evidence from Finland. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 102(1), 123–134.
Landes, D. S. (1998). The wealth and poverty of nations: Why some are so rich and some so poor. New York: WW Norton & Company.
Landier, A. (2002). Entrepreneurship and the stigma of failure. Ph.D. thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA.
Philippon, T., & Véron, N. (2008). Financing Europe’s fast movers. Brussels: Bruegel.
Roberts, J. M. (2001). The triumph of the West. New York: Sterling Publishing.
Sassen, S. (2001). The global city. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Tawney, R. H. (1960). Religion and the rise of capitalism: A historical study (vol. 23). Livingston, NJ: Transaction Books.
The Economist (2012). European entrepreneurs: Les misérables. 28 July.
ThinkYoung. (2010). European young leaders. Brussels: ThinkYoung AISBL.
ThinkYoung. (2012). Youth attitudes to the jobs market: Overcoming the skills mismatch. Brussels: ThinkYoung AISBL & ACEA.
Tirapani, A. N. (2011). Politics, entrepreneurship and economic growth. Master’s thesis, HEC Lausanne, Switzerland.
Wärneryd, K.-E., Davidsson, P., & Wahlund, R. (1987). Some characteristics of the Swedish self-employed. In Understanding economic behavior: Proceedings for the 12th Annual Colloquium of IAREP, Ebeltoft, Denmark. Research paper 6328, Århus School of Economics.
Weber, M., Baehr, P. R., & Wells, G. C. (eds.). (2002). The Protestant ethic and the ‘spirit’ of capitalism and other writings. London: Penguin.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Gerosa, A., Tirapani, A.N. The culture of entrepreneurship: creating your own job. European View 12, 205–214 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12290-013-0284-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12290-013-0284-0