Влияние экономической свободы на предпринимательскую активность: выводы из данных GEM

Entrepreneurship has long been considered a fundamental building block of economic development (Schumpeter, 1934), innovation (Terjesen et al., 2016; Wong et al., 2005), productivity (Bjørnskov & Foss, 2008), and growth (Urbano et al., 2020; Wennekers & Thurik, 1999) of countries. For this reason, governments around the world are increasing the resources allocated to various programs and initiatives created to support the entrepreneurial initiative. However, with the growth of this trend, it becomes evident that a deep understanding of the main drivers of entrepreneurship development is needed.
The level of entrepreneurial activity varies significantly from country to country and from region to region. This is why some studies in the entrepreneurship literature have sought to identify factors that could explain differences in the level of entrepreneurial activity (Amorós et al., 2016; Aparicio et al., 2016; Chowdhury et al., 2015). The authors of these studies concluded that a significant part of these differences could be explained by the peculiarities of the institutional environment in which entrepreneurs work, namely, institutional quality. Institutional quality can be reflected in various institutional dimensions, but the critical element of such dimensions is economic freedom (Pastó & Esteban, 2007). This implies that society will be economically free if people have the freedom and the right to work, produce, consume, and invest in any manner consistent with the rule of law, and the state protects and respects this freedom (Gwartney et al., 1999). Thus, the primary purpose of our research is an empirical assessment and analysis of the influence of factors of economic freedom on the level of entrepreneurial activity.
This study focuses on the impact of economic freedom factors on forming entrepreneurial aspirations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This region is of particular interest because it has a deferred potential for growth in economic activity. After all, the region’s countries transitioned to a free market much later than the rest of Europe. Since the early 1990s, all the former communist countries in the region have begun their difficult journey towards democracy and a market economy. The citizens of these countries had to deal with many radical political and economic reforms that significantly impacted the level of entrepreneurship and attitudes towards it.
The level of entrepreneurial activity is particularly important for this region. This is due to the fact that in transition economies, small and medium-sized businesses play a crucial role in the development of a functioning market economy and are the primary potential source of
economic recovery. Despite the importance of entrepreneurship, particularly for countries with economies in transition, the conditions for the development of entrepreneurship and the functioning of the small business sector in CEE are problematic for various reasons. First, countries with economies in transition lack experience in entrepreneurship, as, under the planned economic system, entrepreneurship/enterprise ownership was either officially prohibited or restricted to specific industries. The economy was highly specialized and consisted mainly of large state-owned companies focused on mass production. Secondly, entrepreneurship in the socialist bureaucracy was significantly different from entrepreneurship in the established market economy since there was virtually no competition in the market, and sales were almost 100% guaranteed. The state closely controlled private enterprises, and entrepreneurs had to face a high degree of uncertainty about the future of public policy (Brezinski & Fritsch, 1996). Third, the poorly developed economic framework remains an important barrier to the growth of the small business and entrepreneurship sector in Central and Eastern Europe. High levels of corruption, unstable legal and political conditions, difficulties accessing finance, tax rates, and tax administration. They were identified as the main problems in CEE. The framework conditions generally improve as the transition process moves forward (Rutkowski & Scarpetta, 2005). However, even today, the main indicators of economic freedom in these countries are significantly lower than in the main developed economies.
Another important aspect of the work concerns the types of entrepreneurial activity. Previous studies (Urbano & Aparicio, 2016; Zali et al., 2013) have examined the impact of various types of entrepreneurial activity on economic growth. The main conclusions of these studies are that opportunity-driven entrepreneurship has a positive impact on economic growth in both developed and developing countries of the world, while necessity-driven entrepreneurship constrains economic growth. Thus, the main efforts of the states should be directed to the development of factors that would have a positive impact on opportunity-driven business activity in the region.
Our research makes at least two contributions to the current literature on the institutional environment and entrepreneurship. First of all, we offer empirical data on the significance of the influence of factors of economic freedom on entrepreneurial activity in CEE. Thus, this work contributes to the understanding of which elements of the institutional environment have the strongest influence on entrepreneurs in the region. Secondly, our study examines the differences in the influence of factors of economic freedom depending on the

motivation of entrepreneurial activity and indicates the improvement of which factors contributes to the development of productive entrepreneurial activity in CEE.
Relevance of the study
Given the key role of entrepreneurs in closing the economic development gap between the CEE countries and Western Europe, it becomes vital to understand the main factors contributing to increased entrepreneurial activity. This study will be useful for policymakers, as many countries in the CEE region are developing specific strategies to promote entrepreneurship. At the same time, approaches to this policy vary greatly in different countries, so there is no consensus on the most effective measures to stimulate the growth of entrepreneurship. This article is aimed at solving this problem.
Therefore, this research work is necessary to find out the main factors of economic freedom that affect the overall level of entrepreneurial activity and, in particular, various types of entrepreneurial activity by motivation.
Research gap
In the recent history of research, the greatest attention has been paid to the study of entrepreneurship and economic growth. However, research on the impact of economic policies, especially in the area of economic freedom, on entrepreneurship has been underestimated. Such studies are particularly important for regions with economies in transition, such as Central and Eastern Europe. The importance of this information is explained by the increased value of entrepreneurial activity in such regions, the growth of entrepreneurship in them leads to an acceleration of economic growth and the transition to a market system. To date, there are no studies in the scientific literature that provide information about the factors of economic freedom that affect the level of entrepreneurship in the CEE. Such a study will allow us to identify the main factors of economic freedom that affect the level of entrepreneurial activity in general and different types of entrepreneurship by motivation. The results of the study, in turn, will highlight the main areas of the institutional environment that allow increasing the total level of entrepreneurial activity in the region, as well as the level of productive entrepreneurial activity, which most strongly accelerates the economic growth of countries.
Research goal
This paper aims to identify the main factors of economic freedom that stimulate the development of entrepreneurial activity in CEE.

To achieve the research goal, several research objectives have been stated:
1. Conduct a literature overview about entrepreneurship
2. Identify peculiarities of main types of entrepreneurship
3. Select framework of economic freedom which is most appropriate for this study
4. Choose factors of economic freedom and state hypotheses
5. Collect and adapt the data
6. Build regression models for different types of entrepreneurship
7. Analyze the obtained results
8. Provide recommendations for different stakeholders based on the findings
To achieve the research goal and complete research objectives, the following research
questions should be answered:
1. What economic freedom factors affect total entrepreneurial activity in the CEE region?
2. What are the differences in the impact of factors of economic freedom on different types of entrepreneurial activity in the CEE region?
The article consists of three main parts. The first chapter presents the theoretical foundations of entrepreneurship and its impact on the economy, the concept of economic freedom and research on its impact on the level of entrepreneurial activity, as well as highlights the features of entrepreneurial activity in Central and Eastern Europe. The second chapter describes the research methodology, the empirical part, namely the regression models used, the results of calculations and hypothesis testing. The third section evaluates the results of the analysis and practical conclusions for policy makers and managers. The work contributes to understanding the factors of economic freedom that could boost the level of entrepreneurial activity in the countries of the region, which allows us to focus on the factors that have the greatest impact on the share of enterprises seeking growth, which, in turn, can stimulate GDP growth.