Exploring Country Institutional Profiles on Entrepreneurial Orientation

This study draws on the construct of a country institutional profile to identify normative, cognitive, and regulatory institutional structures that may influence entrepreneurial orientation. Using data from 349 firms in nine European countries, the study assesses the impact of the country institutional dimensions on different levels of entrepreneurial orientation. Results from a cluster analysis suggest that there aren’t clearly defined country institutional profiles at the European level, as they these vary according to key firm’s and entrepreneur’s characteristics. Significant differences are also found between higher, medium and lower levels of entrepreneurial orientation. Through a multinomial regression, it is possible to suggest that the diverse dimensions of country institutional profiles affect in a different way the variate levels of entrepreneurial orientation. These results contribute to existing theories of national institutions by suggesting that the various dimensions of institutional country profiles impact in a different way entrepreneurial orientation, according to its levels (high, medium or low).