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Entrepreneurship and Government Policy in Former Soviet Republics: Belarus and Estonia Compared

Author

Listed:
  • David Smallbone

    (Small Business Research Centre, Kingston University, Kingston Hill, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey KT2 7LB, England)

  • Friederike Welter

    (Centre for Innovation Systems, Entrepreneurship and Growth, Jönköping International Business School, PO Box 1051, SE-55 511 Jönköping, Sweden; and Stockholm School of Economics, Strelniekuiela 4a, Riga LV 1010, Latvia)

Abstract

In this paper we analyse the role of government in relation to the development of entrepreneurship in countries where private business activity was illegal until the beginning of the 1990s. By focusing on Estonia and Belarus we are concerned with countries with an ostensibly similar political heritage, yet with contrasting experiences during the post-Soviet period. Various authors have argued the need for entrepreneurship research to acknowledge the heterogeneity of environmental conditions, outcomes, and behaviours that exist with respect to entrepreneurship. Government policies and actions are a key element contributing to the heterogeneity of external conditions in which entrepreneurship occurs and are thus part of social embeddedness. The findings have implications for policy makers in transition and developing countries by emphasising the variety of ways in which the state can influence the nature and pace of private business development and the central role of institutional behaviour in this process. The findings also have implications for researchers interested in extending analysis of entrepreneurship into a wide range of business environments.

Suggested Citation

  • David Smallbone & Friederike Welter, 2010. "Entrepreneurship and Government Policy in Former Soviet Republics: Belarus and Estonia Compared," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 28(2), pages 195-210, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:28:y:2010:i:2:p:195-210
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    Cited by:

    1. Mirela Xheneti & John Kitching, 2011. "From Discourse to Implementation: Enterprise Policy Development in Postcommunist Albania," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 29(6), pages 1018-1036, December.
    2. Tamar Khitarishvili, 2016. "Gender Dimensions of Inequality in the Countries of Central Asia, South Caucasus, and Western CIS," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_858, Levy Economics Institute.
    3. Cai Li & Naveed Ahmed & Sikandar Ali Qalati & Asadullah Khan & Shumaila Naz, 2020. "Role of Business Incubators as a Tool for Entrepreneurship Development: The Mediating and Moderating Role of Business Start-Up and Government Regulations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-23, February.
    4. Norin Arshed & Sara Carter & Colin Mason, 2014. "The ineffectiveness of entrepreneurship policy: is policy formulation to blame?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 639-659, October.
    5. Andrew Atherton & David Smallbone, 2013. "Promoting Private Sector Development in China: The Challenge of Building Institutional Capacity at the Local Level," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 31(1), pages 5-23, February.
    6. Norin Arshed & Colin Mason & Sara Carter, 2016. "Exploring the disconnect in policy implementation: A case of enterprise policy in England," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(8), pages 1582-1611, December.

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