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The main objective of this paper is to analyse the influence of environmental factors on entrepreneurship at the Spanish regional level, using institutional economics as the theoretical framework for the research. Additionally, this work aims to emphasize how environmental conditions have different effects according to the gender of entrepreneurs.

Regional panel data (19 Spanish regions and the 2006‐2009 period) from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), specifically from the Spanish National Expert Survey (NES) for environmental conditions and the GEM Adult Population Survey (APS) for entrepreneurial activity were analysed within a fixed effects model with panel corrected standard errors.

The main findings of the study indicate that both informal (cultural and social norms, perception of opportunities to start‐up and entrepreneur social image) and formal factors (intellectual property rights) influence entrepreneurship, but the informal are more determinant than the formal. Concerning the gender issues, informal and formal institutions are also determinant, but female entrepreneurship is significantly associated with the women's support to start‐up, whereas primary and higher education are associated only with male entrepreneurial activity.

The results of the research should be interpreted carefully, because the availability of data constrained the analysis to a time period that is not reflective of the economic cycle; on the contrary, the data correspond to a period of recession, and thus the results cannot be generalized. Also, the study could extend the analysed period and compare the obtained results with international data, considering the global number of participant countries in the GEM Project.

The study provides a methodology to analyse the environmental factors for new firm creation at a regional level, combining GEM data and institutional economics.

The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically whether economic freedom affects entrepreneurial activity in three groups of countries, classified according to economic development.

Data on the index of entrepreneurial activity cover the period between 2002 and 2009, and are taken from the annual GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor) reports and from the Index of Economic Freedom published by The Heritage Foundation from 1995 to 2009. The same analysis is carried out, grouping the countries by development level, following the classification included in the Global Competitiveness Report 2009‐2010. A Ridge regression analysis is performed to measure the model's goodness‐of‐fit and to determine equations that can be used for future predictions.

The results obtained in the correlation analysis show that economic freedom is closely related to entrepreneurial activity. The results suggest that TEA rates, opportunity‐TEA rates and necessity‐TEA rates decrease when there is an increase in economic freedom in a country, as just two of the areas analyzed – i.e. “government size” and “fiscal freedom” – appear to foster the emergence of new entrepreneurs. When countries are grouped by level of economic development, the results for countries belonging to the “Innovation‐Driven Economies” group show that the opportunity‐TEA rates increase as the economic freedom index grows.

The study indicates that entrepreneurship by opportunity increases in the group of Innovation‐Driven Economies with smaller “government size” and more “fiscal freedom”.

The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of institutions on entrepreneurship in groups of countries classified according to their economic development.

Data used come from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, the Economic Freedom in the World Index; and from the Global Competitiveness Report.

The results provide useful information for the public and private sectors as evidence that some institutional variables that influence business creation depend on the development stage and report critical aspects to progress in each type of country in order to foster entrepreneurship. In developing nations the “size of the business sector” and “health and primary education” are critical variables, while for transition economies they stack the “integrity of the legal system” and “fulfilling contracts” and for developed economies the “size of the government” and “credit available to the private sector”.

This study constitutes an unusual approach because the literature on the impact of institutions on entrepreneurship is very scarce.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a readiness for entrepreneurship theoretical framework. The paper marks the first of three stages to build a scale to measure readiness for entrepreneurship.

The current paper is conceptual. The research approach consists of formulating proposals and definitions based on an extensive literature review.

The literature review reveals that no such readiness for entrepreneurship measurement tool exists. The literature review also yields definitions and components of key concepts for the theoretical framework.

The paper offers a new, holistic perspective of readiness for entrepreneurship. This research addresses measurement of readiness for entrepreneurship from a rigorous, scientific approach. The main limitation lies in capturing and organizing extensive information on topics from diverse disciplines (i.e. sociology, psychology, and business management).

This theoretical framework enables the design and creation of a scale to measure readiness for entrepreneurship. The literature review confirmed the possibility of building such a measurement scale.

A complex tool able to identify and measure readiness for entrepreneurship would be applicable in numerous situations including the following: determining entrepreneurial abilities, analyzing potential for entrepreneurship, simulating organizational transformations, and evaluating investment recommendations.

No holistic, scientifically grounded tool to measure readiness for entrepreneurship exists, yet there are numerous entrepreneurial capacity tests with no rigorous scientific grounding. As a remedy, this paper provides solid scientific foundations upon which to develop an instrument for measuring readiness for entrepreneurship.

The aim of this study was to determine what facilitators and impediments to regional and global entrepreneurship exist, as identified by the 145 industry contacts globally surveyed, and if education stood out as a critical factor.

An electronic, open‐ended survey was conducted; responses were categorized into three groups of factors – i.e. economic, social and personal – and analyzed accordingly by region and job function of respondent.

The survey revealed many similarities among responses, regardless of country of origin; although education was not the most frequently cited factor critical for successful entrepreneurship, it did rate highly in comparison to others.

Larger studies are needed to corroborate the findings of this initial study, particularly in some regional categories. The open‐ended question format required some subjective interpretation by the researchers; future surveys utilizing an objective answer format would be recommended.

The amount of consensus indicates that if entrepreneurs, academics, and others collaborated and pooled their knowledge and resources, some of the critical barriers to success could be overcome. The field could benefit by future research focusing on identifying specific collaboration strategies among regions or countries leading to the growth of entrepreneurial ventures and economic development.

Surveying experts regarding the facilitators and impediments to entrepreneurship (both regionally and globally) will help to bridge the gulf between theory and practical solutions to drive economic development.