An Empirical Analysis of the Factors that Influence the Demand for Entrepreneurship in Cameroon

Abstract

Population expansion and resource availability have been the basis for many entrepreneurial activities around the world. The presence of resources and the continuous drive to provide the ever growing needs of man has been a fortune for many entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, this is not a general rule as there are resources rich areas with little or no entrepreneurial activities. Within the context of this lack of standard rule for the development of entrepreneurship, this paper investigates the determinants of the demand for entrepreneurship in Cameroon using the Johansen co-integration procedures and the Error Correction Mechanism (ECM) based on data collected from the World Development Indicators, WDI (2016) and the KOF globalisation index database between 1980 and 2017. After testing for the short and long run relationship, the study found out that population growth, technology and globalization negatively affects the demand for entrepreneurship in Cameroon while economic development positively and significantly determines the demand for entrepreneurship. On the basis of these findings, the study suggests that government should develop and enact policies that will sufficiently regulate the market and create the right business environment for the sustainability of entrepreneurial activities in Cameroon. While recognizing the role of population expansion in providing a market for business, overpopulation should not be tolerated as it becomes a liability in struggling entrepreneurialism.