Problematising the contribution of entrepreneurship and innovation to Malta’s socio-economic development

Abstract

Entrepreneurship and innovation can have an instrumental role in a country’s socioeconomic development; however, certain inequalities might persist even when a country becomes richer. Defined as “the pursuit of opportunity beyond resources controlled” (Eisenmann, 2013), entrepreneurship consists of the identification, evaluation and exploitation of opportunities and the creation of value through innovation (Stokes et al., 2010, p. 8). It “involves...the development of something new, useful, and better than what currently exists—and that creates some kind of value (socio or economic)” (Baron, 2012, p. 4). Mitra (2012) maintains that the relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship finds its meaning in the creation of value. While innovation is concerned with the creation of new products, services and processes, entrepreneurship involves finding and exploiting opportunities for making these products and services available on the market (Mitra, 2012). According to Szirmai et al. (2011), innovation also includes exploiting new markets and forming new business models. Together with entrepreneurship, it engages in value creation because it may involve bringing an innovation to new customers (Szirmai et al., 2011). One of the reasons for which contemporary education puts a premium on the cultivation of entrepreneurial and innovative capacities is that these can help boost a country’s socioeconomic development. However, education also needs to help people understand that this positive influence is not always as clear-cut as policymakers sometimes make it out to be. By means of empirical data, this article analyses how entrepreneurship and innovation have contributed to Malta’s socioeconomic development. It also problematises this contribution and evaluates some of the ramifications of the country’s increasing wealth.