Abstract

At its very beginning, entrepreneurship was a purely economic notion. However, this growing interest in entrepreneurship-related problems prompted other sciences to participate in explaining the entrepreneurship phenomenon. Nowadays, entrepreneurship is analyzed through multiple theoretical lenses of economics, management, psychology, sociology – just to name a few. Therefore, it would be difficult to find a notion that could be equally diverse, complex and multifaceted. As a result, any book on entrepreneurship is in some sense fragmentary, based on the same aspects, inclusive of some problems, but at the same time exclusive of others. This book presents just a few interesting features linked to entrepreneurship in the modern economy. The first chapter presents some general considerations on entrepreneurship, its definitions, ways to measure the level of entrepreneurial activities in a country, as well as the role of human resources and innovations. Some empirical data is presented there, positioning Poland within the broader European context. In the second chapter, the view on entrepreneurship is broadened by discussing the concept of nascent entrepreneurship, its birth and further development. Based on several theoretical and empirical papers, the main strands of research into nascent entrepreneurship are presented. The broadening of the scope is continued in the next chapter which emphasizes the transition from a managed economy to an entrepreneurial economy. This transition amplifies the importance of so-called entrepreneurialism, defined as a constant operation in an entrepreneurial mode. Entrepreneurialism at modern universities allows creating new models of support for education and research activities which are discussed in this chapter. In the fourth chapter, the focus moves more towards the characteristics of modern economies, where skills and knowledge become more and more vital for economic growth. One of the main ways of knowledge diffusion in our globalized world are Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). Empirical data in this chapter comes from one of the Western regions of Poland. The last chapter analyses the impact of economic and institutional environment on the activity of enterprises in Poland and Ukraine. Those neighbouring countries share a lot of common history, but in terms of economic situation, they currently differ significantly. This is what makes a comparative analysis between those two countries interesting and instructive.

Authors (6)