The impact of entrepreneurship on knowledge economy in Africa

Abstract

Purpose -The paper assesses how entrepreneurship affects knowledge economy (KE) in Africa.Design/methodology/approach -Entrepreneurship is measured by indicators of starting, doing and ending business. The four dimensions of the World Bank's index of KE are employed. Instrumental variable panel fixed effects are applied on a sampled of 53 African countries for the period 1996-2010.Findings -The following are some findings. First, creating an enabling environment for starting business can substantially boost most dimensions of KE. Second, doing business through mechanisms of trade globalisation has positive effects from sectors that are not ICT and High-tech oriented. Third, the time required to end business has negative effects on KE.Practical implications -Our findings confirm the narrative that the technology in African countries at the moment may be more imitative and adaptive for reverse-engineering in ICTs and high-tech products. Given the massive consumption of ICT and high-tech commodities in Africa, the continent has to start thinking of how to participate in the global value chain of producing what it consumes.Originality/value -This paper has a twofold motivation. First, given the ambitions of African countries of moving towards knowledge based economies, the line of inquiry is timely. Second, investigating the nexus may have substantial poverty mitigation and sustainable development implications. These entail inter alia: the development of technology with value-added services; enhancement of existing agricultural practices; promotion of conditions that are essential for competitiveness and adjustment of globalization challenges.

Foreign Aid Fiscal Policy: Theory and Evidence

“…The narrative is in accordance with a recent strand of literature on soft economics (i.e. the human side of economic activities) (Kuada, 2015) and knowledge economy (Asongu, 2015a;Tchamyou, 2015;Asongu & Tchamyou, 2016).…”

Beyond entrepreneurship education: business incubation and entrepreneurial capabilities

“…For example, it has been noted that the poor state of infrastructure in Nigerian universities cannot support the newly introduced entrepreneurship education (Nwekeaku, 2013;Oviawe, 2010). On the other hand, Asongu and Tchamyou (2016) found that there is an inverse relationship between the time required to start a business and the level of innovation. An aspiring entrepreneur may be dissuaded by several bureaucratic huddles which must be crossed in starting a business.…”

“…These include research in the area of capability approach, functionings, freedoms or capabilities, business incubation and entrepreneurship development (Al-Mubaraki and Busler, 2010;Alkire, 2002;Charles and Ikenna, 2009;Asongu and Tchamyou, 2016;European Commission, 2002;Gedeon, 2010;Isaacs et al, 2007;Lalkaka, 2003;Lee and Peterson, 2000;Lee et al, 2005;Lin et al, 2011;Morris et al, 2013;Nwekeaku, 2013;Aja-Okorie and Adali, 2013;Okpara et al, 2011;Oviawe, 2010;Ratten, 2014;Robeyns, 2000Robeyns, , 2005Sen, 1992;Somsuk et al, 2012;Varadjanin et al, 2014). The following sections provide a summary of literature on the capability approach and entrepreneurship education at a global level in general and Nigeria in particular.…”

Mobile Phone Innovation and Technology-driven Exports in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…The policy relevance of the inquiry is twofold. On the one hand, the growing relevance of knowledge economy in 21 st century development we have discussed in the first paragraph (also see Asongu and Tchamyou, 2016). On the other hand, the contribution of SSA's trade to the global economy has declined considerably.…”