Development of youth entrepreneurship in Latvia: A comparison of youth’s and experts’ opinions.

Abstract

Fostering entrepreneurial initiative and business skills at an earlier age are the key factors for successful foundation of new enterprises and development of entrepreneurship.

The aim of this research is to study the youth business environment and indicate the main factors important for development of youth entrepreneurship in Latvia. The importance of more than 40 different factors such as knowledge, education, access to finance sources,
motivation, support, etc. is assessed by a survey of young people aged 15-35.

Methodology. The mixed method design was used for this research. The opinions of prospective young entrepreneurs, as the results of a quantitative survey and qualitative questions, are compared with a business environment assessment by experts, using quantitative indicators and qualitative argumentation. The experts evaluated support instruments of youth entrepreneurship, political and economic stability, level of corruption and bureaucracy and other factors. The experts’ views are also studied to identify the impact of state tax policy, access to funding, level of financial and entrepreneurial literacy and other factors on opportunities for starting a new business.

Findings. It was found that there are some differences in perception between experts and young people of support instruments in early stages of entrepreneurship, the importance of entrepreneurial education, funding and the main factors hindering the development of youth entrepreneurship.

Value. Practical recommendations have been worked out to develop youth entrepreneurship in Latvia.