The Role Of Entrepreneurship Ecosystems In Hungarian Urban Regions

Abstract Over the last decade, entrepreneurship ecosystem (EE) research has become a leading field in entrepreneurship research. In this paper, we use the Regional Entrepreneurship and Development Index (REDI) methodology to analyze the EEs of 22 urban regions in Hungary. These urban regions statistically range from metropolitan agglomerations to smaller regional units with urban centers which organize their respective local economies, representing real economic entities relevant to EEs. Compared to other European regions, Hungarian urban regions perform poorly in entrepreneurship. Budapest, the leading Hungarian regions, ranks 81st out of the 140 regions in the sample, and it also lags behind other similarly developed regions. Looking at the REDI sub-indices, Hungarian urban regions perform relatively well in Entrepreneurial Attitudes while Entrepreneurial Aspiration is the weakest component in 19 of them. At the pillar level, we have identified the strengths and the weaknesses of each region. Pinpointing local weaknesses is particularly important because they act as limitations on the operation of EEs and serve as a basis for policy interventions. While Risk Acceptance and Financing are the weakest pillars in most regions, the combinations of pillar components differ, underlining the legitimacy of case-sensitive policy interventions.