Abstract
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, driven by their respective national development goals, have taken a top-down approach to spur entrepreneurship and innovation. This chapter provides a descriptive study and meta-analysis of the policies, programs, and initiatives in the Arab Gulf countries around entrepreneurship and innovation and examines how such activities play a role in fostering an enabling environment for youth social entrepreneurship and/or innovation. The chapter finds that a rising spirit for social entrepreneurship and innovation is present among a small but a growing community of intrinsically driven Arab Gulf youth. At the same time, however, youth face financial barriers, difficulties navigating the complicated regulatory system, and lack role models, resources, or expertise to start and sustain enterprises and/or innovative initiatives toward positive social change.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Notes
- 1.
The “knowledge-based economy” describes trends in advanced economies towards greater dependence on knowledge, information, and high skills levels, and the increasing need for ready access to all these by the business and public sectors (OECD, 2005).
- 2.
Online survey respondents were from Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, and Oman. In-depth interviews were conducted with youth from Qatar, UAE, and Bahrain.
- 3.
0% of females and 16.7% of males responded that they believe that government and banks support social entrepreneurs and innovators. 14.3% of females and 0% of males responded that they believe that businesses provide support for social entrepreneurs and innovators.
- 4.
All names of interviewees have been changed for anonymity.
- 5.
Global Shapers, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, (https://www.globalshapers.org/) is a network of city-based hubs developed and led by young people between 20 and 30 years old who want to develop their leadership potential towards serving society.
References
Abdou, E., Amina, F., & Greenwald, D. (2010). Social entrepreneurship in the Middle East: Towards sustainable development for the next generation. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
Acs, Z., Samseeksha, D., & Hessels, J. (2008). Entrepreneurship, economic development, and institutions. Small Business Economics, 31(3), 219–234. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-008-9135-9
Al-Kuwari, A. (2012). The visions and strategies of the GCC countries from the perspective of reforms: The case of Qatar. Contemporary Arab Affairs, 5(1), 86–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/17550912.2011.647417
Atef, T. M., & Al-Balushi, M. (2014). Entrepreneurship as a means for restructuring employment patterns. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 15(2), 73–90. https://doi.org/10.1177/1467358414558082
Buckner, E., Beges, S., & Khatib, L. (2012). Social entrepreneurship: Why is it important post Arab spring? Stanford, CA: Stanford University, Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.
Dees, J. (1998). The meaning of social entrepreneurship (Working paper). Kansas City, MO: Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
Ennis, A. (2014). Between trend and necessity: Top-down entrepreneurship promotion in Oman and Qatar. The Muslim World, 105(1), 116–138. https://doi.org/10.1111/muwo.12083
Fulgence, K., & Mori, N. (2009). Social entrepreneurship in Tanzania: Assessment of enabling environment. Paper presented at the 2nd EMES International Conference on Social Enterprise, Trento, Italy. doi:https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1549849.
General Secretariat for Development Planning. (2011). Expanding the capacities of Qatari youth: Mainstreaming young people in development. Doha, Qatar: Gulf Publishing.
Johnson, S. (2015). Revisiting the concept of social enterprise in a GCC context: A social constructionist view. Paper presented at the 5th CIRIEC international research conference on social economy, Lisbon, Portugal.
Khalifa Fund. (2013). Youth entrepreneurship in the UAE. Dubai, UAE: Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development.
Martin, R. & Osberg, S. (2007). Social entrepreneurship: The case for definition. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Retrieved from https://ssir.org/articles/entry/social_entrepreneurship_the_case_for_definition
Miniaoui, H., & Schiliro, D. (2016). Innovation and entrepreneurship for the growth and diversification of the GCC economies (MPRA paper no. 71898). Munich, Germany: MPRA Munich University Library.
Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics. (2016). Pillars of Qatar national vision 2030. Retrieved from http://www.mdps.gov.qa/en/qnv/Pages/default.aspx
Nieva, F. O. (2015). Social women entrepreneurship in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 5(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40497-015-0028-5
OECD. (2005). Glossary of statistical terms: Knowledge-based economy. Retrieved from https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6864
Preuss, L. (2011). On the contribution of public procurement to entrepreneurship and small business policy. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 23(9), 787–814. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2010.546433
Roudi, F. (2011). Youth population and employment in the Middle East and North Africa: Opportunity or challenge. New York: United Nations Secretariat, Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Saeid, S. (2017, January 09). QC joins hands with QU to help young entrepreneurs. Qatar Tribune. Retrieved from http://www.qatar-tribune.com/PrintNews.aspx?id=42851
Schilirò, D. (2015). Innovation in small and medium enterprises in the United Arab Emirates. International Journal of Social Science Studies, 3(5). 10.11114/ijsss.v3i5.1014
Silatech. (2012). Qatar’s rising entrepreneurial spirit. Doha, Qatar: Silatech.
UAE Ministry of Cabinet Affairs. (2015). UAE national innovation strategy. Abu Dhabi, UAE: Office of the Prime Minister. Retrieved from http://www.uaeinnovates.gov.ae/docs/default-source/pdfs/national-innovation-strategy-en.pdf?sfvrsn=2
United Nations. (2011). Regional overview: Youth in the Arab region. New York: United Nations.
World Bank. (2015). Doing business 2016: Measuring regulatory quality and efficiency. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
World Economic Forum. (2014). Rethinking Arab employment: A systemic approach for resource-endowed economics. Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lee, S., Mirza, C. (2017). Fostering a Rise in Youth Social Entrepreneurship in the Arabian Peninsula: From Policy to Implementation. In: Bastien, S., Holmarsdottir, H. (eds) Youth as Architects of Social Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66275-6_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66275-6_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-66274-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-66275-6
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)