Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Vol. 7 No. 2 (2021)
June 2021

Articles

Entrepreneurship ecosystem in the United Arab Emirates: An empirical comparison with Qatar and Saudi Arabia

https://doi.org/10.15678/IER.2021.0702.05

Published 2021-06-01

  • Ayman Balawi

Ayman Balawi
University of Pécs

Abstract

Objective: This paper aims to investigate and assess the UAE’s overall entrepreneurship performance (ecosystem) by applying the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI).
Research Design & Methods: This paper assesses the United Arab Emirates’ entrepreneurial ecosystem and compares it with Qatar and Saudi Arabia by using the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) data collected between 2011 and 2016. The GEI approach is applied to measure the entrepreneurship ecosystem at the country level, and it constitutes an appropriate method to encourage a higher level of entrepreneurship by considering its quality aspects.
Findings: Outcomes show an entrepreneurial ecosystem with a GEI index of 44.6. Technology absorption is a critical bottleneck that suppresses entrepreneurial goals. Despite the low score of this pillar, the UAE has one of the highest GDP per capita among all participating countries. As a result, the GEI score of the United Arab Emirates and its sub-indices are above the global average trend and count to the most innovation-driven economies worldwide. However, the UAE is not performing well compared to other average performers in its category.
Implications & Recommendations: Crucial policy interferences are required for the improvement of technology absorption. UAE calls for 4% additional resources to expand the GEI score by 10%.
Contribution & Value Added: Using a novel approach incorporating individual and institutional variables into a single model, this paper identifies the weak aspects of UAE’s entrepreneurial performance. Also, the utilisation of (PFB) is used to identify which entrepreneurial factors should be tackled.

Keywords

entrepreneurship; entrepreneurship ecosystem; entrepreneurship performance; GEI; Persian Gulf; Arabian Peninsula, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates

pdf

Author Biography

Ayman Balawi

PhD Candidate in Business Administration at the University of Pécs (Hungary); Master’s in business administration (2017, Birzeit University, Palestine); Bachelor of Electronics Engineering with minor in physics in (2011, Palestine Polytechnic University, Palestine). His research interests include the relationship between transformational and transactional leadership and their impact on Innovative behaviours, entrepreneurship, social media marketing.

Correspondence to: Mr. Ayman Balawi, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pécs, Rákóczi út 80, 7622, Hungary, e-mail: aymanalb2004@gmail.com

References

  1. Ács, Z., Autio, E., & Szerb, L. (2014). National Systems of Entrepreneurship: Measurement issues and policy im-plications. Research Policy, 43(3), 476-494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2013.08.016
  2. Ács, Z., Szerb, L., & Lloyd (2018). The Global Entrepreneurship Index 2018. The Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute, Washington, D.C., USA Cham: Springer Briefs in Economics. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-03279-1
  3. Al Saiqal, N.Y., Ryan, J.C., & Parcero, O.J. (2018). Entrepreneurial Intention and UAE Youth: Unique Influencers of Entrepreneurial Intentions in an Emerging Country Context. Journal of East-West Business, 25(2), 144-165. https://doi.org/10.1080/10669868.2018.1536012
  4. Cummings, J.C. (2018) ‘The Price Is Rights: Getting the United Arab Emirates up to International Speed in the Labor Law Department’. Brooklyn Journal of International Law, (Issue 1), p. 410. Retrieved from https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/bjil/vol44/iss1/10 on December 12, 2020
  5. El-Sokari, H., Horne, V., Huang, V.Z., & Awad, A. (2013). Entrepreneurship: An Emirati Perspective. Institute of So-cial & Economic Research (ISER)- Zayed University. ISBN: 978-9948-20-041-3
  6. GEM Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). (2018). Entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates. Retrieved from https://www.gemconsortium.org/report/gem-2018-2019-global-report on December 17, 2020.
  7. Global Edge. (2019). United Arab Emirates: Risk Assessment. Retrieved from https://globaledge.msu.edu/countries/united-arab-emirates/risk on December 19, 2020.
  8. Goldberg, I., & Kuriakose, S. (2011). Fostering technology absorption in Southern African enterprises. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-8818-1
  9. Głodowska, A., Pera, B., & Wach, K. (2016). The International Environment and Its Influence on the Entrepre-neurial Internationalization of Firms: The Case of Polish Businesses. Problemy Zarządzania, 14(3), 107-130. https://doi.org/10.7172/1644-9584.62.7
  10. Hamdan, A. M. M. (2019). Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth: An Emirati Perspective. The Journal of De-veloping Areas, 53(1), 65-78. https://doi.org/10.1353/jda.2019.0004
  11. Hameed, I., Khan, M., Shahab, A., Hameed, I., & Qadeer, F. (2016). Science, Technology and Innovation through Entrepreneurship Education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Sustainability, 8(12), 1280. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8121280
  12. Hofstede Insights (2020). The United Arab Emirates. Retrieved from https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country/the-united-arab-emirates/ on December 15, 2020.
  13. Khan, M.R. (2016). Entrepreneurship ecosystem evolution strategy of Saudi Arabia. International Entrepreneur-ship Review, 2(2), 67-92.
  14. Khalilov, L., & Yi, C.-D. (2021). Institutions and entrepreneurship: Empirical evidence for OECD countries. Entre-preneurial Business and Economics Review, 9(2), 119-134. https://doi.org/10.15678/eber.2021.090208
  15. Lane, P. M. (2016). Creating the environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. International Entrepreneur-ship Review, 2(2), 53-66.
  16. Lubbadeh, T. (2019). Entrepreneurship development in Japan: An empirical analysis. International Entrepreneur-ship Review, 5(3), 19-33. https://doi.org/10.15678/ier.2019.0503.02
  17. Minhas, W.A. (2019). Advancing Entrepreneurship in the United Arab Emirates: start-up challenges and opportu-nities. Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved on Dec. 17, 2020, from https://books.google.hu/books?id=zE5aDwAAQBAJ
  18. OECD (2013). The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of Abu Dhabi: Boosting the entrepreneurial ecosystem: UAE. Re-trieved from https://www.oecd.org/countries/unitedarabemirates/AbuDhabi-Ecosystem-Final-Web.pdf on May, 24, 2020.
  19. Rahatullah, M.K. (2014). Role of Trust and Commitment in Building Successful Franchise Business Relationships. International Journal of Knowledge, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2(1), 90-107.
  20. SMEs Report. (2019). The state of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In Dubai SME (pp. 16-20). Retrieved from https://sme.ae/SME_File/Files/SME%20STATE%202019%20AR.pdf on July 24, 2020.
  21. Szerb, L., & Trumbull, W.N. (2018). Entrepreneurship development in Russia: is Russia a normal country? An empirical analysis. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 25(6), 902-929. https://doi.org/10.1108/jsbed-01-2018-0033
  22. Szerb, L., Komlosi, E., & Páger, B. (2016). Measuring entrepreneurship and optimising entrepreneurship policy efforts in the European Union. CESifo DICE Report, 14, 8-23. Retrieved from https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/167269/1/ifodice-report-v14-y2016-i3-p08-23.pdf on Decem-ber 17, 2020,
  23. UAE (2020). The United Arab Emirates’ Government Portal. Retrieved from https://u.ae on December 17, 2020,
  24. UAE Portal. (2019). Annual Economic Report. Retrieved from https://u.ae/en/about-the-uae/economy on De-cember 17, 2020.
  25. Ubrežiová, I., Wach, K., & Horváthová, J. (2008). Entrepreneurship in small and medium-sized enterprises: Com-parative study between Slovakia and Poland for the years 2001-2007. Agricultural Economics, 54(8), 358-366
  26. UNDP (2019). Human Development Report. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/all/themes/hdr_theme/ country-notes/ARE.pdf on May 15, 2020.
  27. Wach, K. (2015). Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Modern Economy (chapter 7). In M.R. Contreras Loera & A. Marjański (Eds.), The Challanges of Management in Turbulent Times. Global Issues from Local Per-spective. Occidente (México): Universidad de Occidente, pp. 77-101
  28. Wach, K., & Głodowska, A (2021). How do demographics and basic traits of an entrepreneur impact the interna-tionalisation of firms?. Oeconomia Copernicana, 12(2).
  29. World Bank (2019a). United Arab Emirates. Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.SELF.ZS?locations=AE on May 22, 2020.
  30. World Bank (2019b). Doing Business 2019. Retrieved from https://www.doingbusiness.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/media/Annual-Reports/English/DB2019-report_web-version.pdf on May 16, 2020.
  31. World Bank. (2011). Fostering Technology Absorption in Southern African Enterprises. World Bank. Washington, DC. USA.
  32. World Economic Forum. (2019). The Global Competitiveness Report. Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2019.pdf on December 17, 2020.
  33. Yi, M., Fang, X., & Zhang, Y. (2019). The Differentiated Influence of Technology Absorption on Regional Economic Growth in China. Sustainability, 11(2), 450. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11020450

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.