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A number of researchers have developed frameworks to explain some of the macro (and micro) determinants of entrepreneurship activities or the entrepreneurial process (Reynolds et al., 1999; Reynolds et al., 2005; Verheul et al., 2002; Wennekers and Thurik, 1999; Sobel, 2008, Singer et al., 2015). The majority of these frameworks conclude the same thing: institutional factors (formal and informal) are essential elements in understanding the determinants of entrepreneurial dynamics. Institutional factors help to foster and generate incentives that create an entrepreneurial ecosystem; the right legal and regulatory frameworks are critical to thriving entrepreneurship (Isenberg, 2010).

In particular entrepreneurship policy, linked to formal institutions, seeks to influence the level of entrepreneurial activity in a specific region (Lundstrom and Stevenson, 2005) since increased levels of entrepreneurship have been found to support job growth (Birch, 1979, 1987) and country competitiveness (Amorós et al., 2012). Even though researchers continue to pursue the question of what factors, and which entrepreneurship policies are actually successful in stimulating rates of entrepreneurship and country competitiveness (Acs and Amorós, 2008). Extant research has been inconclusive in regards to how and under what circumstances governments can positively influence entrepreneurial activity (Capelleras et al., 2008). contribution to poverty mitigation and economic growth overall.