Innovative entrepreneurship in emerging and developing economies: the effects of entrepreneurial competencies and institutional voids

Abstract Innovative entrepreneurship is one of the key drivers of economic development particularly for less developed economies where the economic growth is at the forefront of policymakers’ agenda. Yet, the research on how various factors at different levels interact and bring about innovative entrepreneurship in emerging and developing countries remains relatively scarce. We address this issue by developing a multilevel framework that explains how entrepreneurial competencies attenuate the negative impact of innovation barriers. Our analysis on a sample of individuals from 24 economies, 17 developing and 7 emerging countries, reveals that entrepreneurial competencies become more instrumental for innovative entrepreneurship when general, supply-side, and demand-side innovation barriers are higher. The findings offer unique insights to policymakers particularly in developing countries interested in promoting innovative entrepreneurship and to entrepreneurs and investors seeking to establish and support innovative ventures.