Institutions and Entrepreneurship Quality Entrepreneurship contributes importantly to the economy. However, differences in the quality and quantity of entrepreneurship vary significantly across developing and developed countries. We use a sample of 70 countries over the period of 2005-2015 to examine how formal and informal institutional dimensions (availability of debt and venture capital, regulatory business environment, entrepreneurial cognition and human capital, corruption, government size, government support) affect the quality and quantity of entrepreneurship between developed and developing countries. Our results demonstrate that institutions are important for both the quality and quantity of entrepreneurship. However, not all institutions play a similar role; rather, there is a dynamic relationship between institutions and economic development.

Tax policies and corruption are important institutional considerations which can shape entrepreneurship. We investigate how tax rates, and the interaction between corruption and tax rates, influence variations in entry across a panel of 72 countries in the period 2005-2011. We use a series of panel estimations as well as several robustness checks to test these effects, using relevant controls for economic development, the size of the state, and other regulatory and tax policy measures. We find that higher tax rates consistently discourage entry. Further, we find that although the direct influence of corruption on entry is also consistently negative, the interaction influence of corruption and tax rate is positive. This indicates that corruption can offset the negative influence of high taxes on entry. We discuss the implications of our findings for policymakers and future research.

This study asks how key regulations influence nascent international entrepreneurship in countries with varying levels of corruption. Using regulatory capture theory and institutional theory, we hypothesize and test the effects of tax, export regulations, and corruption, on international entrepreneurship. We consider direct effects of these regulations as well as a possible moderating effect of corruption on nascent international entrepreneurship. Our findings indicate that the effect of regulations on international nascent entrepreneurship vary depending on types of regulation. Interestingly, we find that corruption plays a dual role, serving as both grease and sand for nascent international entrepreneurship. Corruption worsens the burden of regulations which have financial costs element. Another interesting finding is that corporate tax is not a significant deterrent factor for IE when corruption is low.

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The antidiabetic drug canagliflozin is reported to possess several cardioprotective effects. However, no studies have investigated protective effects of canagliflozin in isoprenaline (ISO)-induced cardiac oxidative damage-a model mimicking sympathetic nervous system (SNS) overstimulation-evoked cardiac injuries in humans. Therefore, we investigated protective effects of canagliflozin in ISOinduced cardiac oxidative stress, and their underlying molecular mechanisms in Long-Evans rat heart and in HL-1 cardiomyocyte cell line. Our data showed that ISO administration inflicts pro-oxidative changes in heart by stimulating production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). In contrast, canagliflozin treatment in ISO rats not only preserves endogenous antioxidants but also reduces cardiac oxidative stress markers, fibrosis and apoptosis. Our Western blotting and messenger RNA expression data demonstrated that canagliflozin augments antioxidant and anti-inflammatory signaling involving AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), Akt, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). In addition, canagliflozin treatment attenuates pro-oxidative, pro-inflammatory and proapoptotic signaling mediated by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), NADPH oxidase isoform 4 (Nox4), caspase-3 and Bax. Consistently, canagliflozin treatment improves heart function marker in ISO-treated rats. In summary, we demonstrated that canagliflozin produces cardioprotective actions by promoting multiple antioxidant and antiinflammatory signaling. Canagliflozin, a sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, belongs to a new class of antidiabetic drugs prescribed for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) 1. Accumulating evidence suggests that canagliflozin exhibits a range of cardiovascular effects that are independent of glucose lowering. According to recent preclinical and clinical data, canagliflozin treatment significantly reduced risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke and hospitalization due to heart failure in both diabetic and non-diabetic subjects 2-5. Proposed mechanisms for cardiovascular benefits of canagliflozin include improvement of cardiac metabolism and diastolic function, reduction of vascular stiffness, and an overall reduction of blood pressure 5-9. A growing body of evidence suggests that canagliflozin possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions in various cellbased and animal models 10-14. Canagliflozin was shown to reduce vascular inflammation and atherosclerosis by