Analyzing Africa: investigating innovative ways to measure Entrepreneurial Culture. A study in the national context of Africa

Abstract

Scholars acknowledge Entrepreneurial Culture as one of the key drivers for the overall quality of Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. The African Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Index (AEEI) represents the first successful effort to measure Culture (along with six other challenge areas) across the African Continent. Nevertheless, a major gap in literature about Entrepreneurial Culture in Africa persists; insufficient data coverage and availability prevent Entrepreneurial Culture from being gauged in all its nuances. Hence, the purpose of this research is twofold: (i) to define Entrepreneurial Culture in the African context, and (ii) to provide a thorough overview of data through which prospect variables meet the novel given definition, enhance the explanatory power of the AEEI, and secure the largest coverage of African Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. To accomplish this, we employ an archival data approach, assessing eight potential indicators across seven data sources, in multiple regression analyses. Notably, by aggregating novel indicators or combinations thereof to the AEEI’s lone Trust metric, the Cultural pillar increases the model’s explanatory power for productive Start-up density. This improvement showcases that African Entrepreneurial Ecosystems are more clearly revealed when Entrepreneurial Culture is treated as a multidimensional construct rather than a single attitudinal measure. We conclude with three distinct recommendations to improve the cultural dimension of the AEEI based on the theoretical definition of Entrepreneurial Culture.