ASSESSMENT OF THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM IN THE
      REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA: OPINION OF ENTREPRENEURS

                         Alexandru STRATAN1 ORCID: 0000-0001-7086-8604
                        Natalia VINOGRADOVA2 ORCID: 0000-0003-4485-668X
                           Alexandra NOVAC3 ORCID: 0000-0002-4158-4917
                           Alina IANIOGLO4 ORCID: 0000-0003-2845-471X
                              Lidia MAIER5 ORCID: 0000-0001-6781-9764


Abstract: The purpose of this article is to assess the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Republic of
Moldova based on a survey of entrepreneurs. A pilot survey of 106 entrepreneurs from the sector
of small and medium-sized enterprises has been carried out and implemented with the
participation of the authors, as part of the research project “Multidimensional assessment and
development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem at national and regional level in order to boost the
SME sector in the Republic of Moldova” (20.80009.0807.38). As a result of the study, two tasks
were solved: (i) it has been assessed the impact of indicators and components of the
entrepreneurial ecosystem on the entrepreneurship's development in the Republic of Moldova
according to the opinion of entrepreneurs; (ii) there were determined tendencies of changes in
these indicators/ components for two years (in 2021 compared to 2019). The findings of the
empirical study reveal that infrastructure is the component of the entrepreneurial ecosystem,
which, according to entrepreneurs, has the most positive impact on business development in
Moldova. Conversely, the existing legal framework and regulations are considered by the
entrepreneurs to be the biggest obstacle, exacerbating its negative impact on business in recent
years.

Keywords: entrepreneurial ecosystem, entrepreneurship, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),
business environment, Republic of Moldova

JEL codes: L26, L53, K29




1
  National Institute for Economic Research, Republic Moldova, alex_stratan@yahoo.com
2
  National Institute for Economic Research, Republic Moldova, natalia.vinogradova01@gmail.com
3
  National Institute for Economic Research, Republic Moldova, alecsandra_novac@yahoo.com
4
  National Institute for Economic Research, Republic Moldova
5
  National Institute for Economic Research, Republic Moldova
DOI: 10.29302/oeconomica.2021.23.2.8
Pp. 81-94