What Is The Value Of Entrepreneurship? A Review Of Recent Research

This paper examines to what extent recent empirical evidence can collectively and systematically substantiate the claim that entrepreneurship has important economic value. Hence, a systematic review is provided that answers the question: What is the contribution of entrepreneurs to the economy in comparison to non-entrepreneurs? The authors' study the relative contribution of entrepreneurs to the economy based on four measures that have most widely been studied empirically. Hence, they answer the question: What is the contribution of entrepreneurs to employment generation and dynamics, innovation, and productivity and growth, relative to the contributions of the entrepreneurs' counterparts, i.e. the 'Control group'? A fourth type of contribution studied is the role of entrepreneurship in increasing individuals' utility levels.