Abstract:

Entrepreneurship is increasingly understood as a dynamic process that unfolds through successive stages, from entrepreneurial intentions and nascent entrepreneurship to new venture creation, business establishment and, eventually, exit or discontinuation. The determinants of entrepreneurship may not exert uniform effects throughout this process, as the opportunities, resource requirements, risks, and constraints faced by entrepreneurs change as ventures emerge, develop, and mature. A lifecycle perspective is therefore essential for understanding not only whether particular factors influence entrepreneurship, but also at which stages their effects are most pronounced.

Among these determinants, labor taxation and labor unions represent two important dimensions of the labor market institutional environment. Their effects may vary across the entrepreneurial lifecycle, as the relative attractiveness of paid employment, the costs of hiring employees, and exposure to labor market regulations change as businesses emerge and mature. Labor unions may also influence how labor taxation affects entrepreneurial activity by shaping labor costs and broader labor market conditions.