Female and male entrepreneurship during the economic crisis: An institutional tale of European countries

This study evaluates the influence of institutions on the probability to become a woman and man entrepreneur during the recent European economic crisis. We approach institutional factors affecting entrepreneurial decisions through a post-materialist value, educational level and unemployment rate. Using data from the World Values Survey (WVS) and World Development Indicators (WDI) in the period 2011-2013, we show through Logit models that institutions (educational level and unemployment rate) exert an effect on the probability of women and men becoming entrepreneurs. Similar regressions were performed for those individuals in Central versus Eastern European countries. This distinction might suggest that the latter might not be pushed by unemployment, while the former do. Different supportive policies are discussed.