Entrepreneurship Policy Agenda in the European Union: A Text Mining Perspective

Abstract

This study analyzes the learning curve in the emergence and development of an entrepreneurship policy in the European Union (EU) during the period 1990–2016 by identifying the key topics in the policy agenda setting and their evolution over time within a corpus of 576 selected policy‐making documents. To this end, the study uses a combination of text mining techniques, cluster analysis, and qualitative assessment, which illustrate the possibilities of these tools to learn about the evolution of the policy cycle in a particular domain. The results from the analysis display three main stages, each of which have two substages. During the initial period, which lasted up until the late 1990s, labelled (i) latent EU entrepreneurship policy, there were hardly any specific entrepreneurship policy initiatives and only some general enterprise‐fostering policies at the EU level which included, tangentially, SMEs and entrepreneurs. In the (ii) emergent EU entrepreneurship policy stage, which can be traced from the late 1990s to the early 2010s, saw the initial steps of an entrepreneurship policy with a main focus on diagnosis of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and some measures of support, mainly to SMEs. The third and last period to date, which began in the 2010s is a (iii) new normal for EU entrepreneurship policy, which is a more targeted stage aimed at promoting not only the quantity but also quality of business ventures. Overall, this study provides a complete overview of the EU entrepreneurship policy evolution and concludes with a granular proposal for its continued development, while identifying main themes and foundational concepts, establishing patterns, and finding temporal and contextual relations within the EU policy cycle.

National policymaking between influences of the European Union and the economy

“…The authors put forward the claim that the institutional context substantially shaped the influence of policy entrepreneurs and outlined the relevance of supranational institutions to EU climate policy. This is in line with other contributions that highlight policy entrepreneurship at the supranational level published in this and related journals (Arenal et al, 2021). The relevance of the EU in tackling societal challenges is further built on by Meister Broekema et al (2021).…”

EntreComp Questionnaire: A Self-Assessment Tool for Entrepreneurship Competencies

“…This relevant question has been addressed within the European Commission's strategy for entrepreneurship and focused on the concept of entrepreneurship competencies as a set of capabilities or abilities that can be trained to create learning outcomes; the EntreComp model [7] proposes 15 competencies that, all together comprise the capacity to turn ideas into action. The first block is called "Ideas and Opportunities" and the competencies included are: (1) spotting opportunities; (2) creativity; (3) vision; (4) valuing ideas; and (5) ethical and sustainable thinking. The second area is "Resources", which involves the following competencies: (6) self-awareness and self-efficacy; (7) motivation and perseverance; (8) mobilizing resources; (9) financial and economic literacy; and (10) mobilizing others.…”

“…Nowadays entrepreneurship has become a term linked to many positive values and concepts: opportunities, innovation, success, unicorns, venture creation, economic progress, modern economies, etc. Therefore, this magnetic capability to attract attention has impacted the conception, design, and implementation of entrepreneurship policies for the last few decades [1], with an ample range of policy efforts focused on fostering entrepreneurship activities and promoting entrepreneurial abilities. Considering the specific context of the present research work, the notion of competencies has emerged as a core pillar in building entrepreneurial capability among citizens [2], although there is not a common and clear definition about what entrepreneurship competencies are [3].…”

Complementarity of additionalities resulting from European Union funds: Perspective of the users of research infrastructures

“…Even though entrepreneurial policy is risky, as its positive impact tends to appear in the long term (Arenal et al, 2021), this perfectly matches the idea of research infrastructures, which are aimed at meeting grand societal challenges—major concerns shared by European and other citizens (Mazzucato, 2018, 2019).…”