Entrepreneurship in Georgia

Author(s): Philippe Rudaz
Editor(s): Jeronim Perovic, Lili Di Puppo, Iris Kempe, Heiko Pleines, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung
Series: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Issue: 45
Pages: 2-6
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University
Publication Year: 2012

Georgia has received a fair amount of publicity as a potential investment destination in recent years. The country won praise for its bold approach to reforms and economic policy. While it is true that Georgia made tremendous progress on issues like corruption, our examination of the structure of small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) revealed that they face many serious problems that are not yet addressed by the government. There are also a stunning number of self-employed persons, not observed by official statistics, many of whom could be described as 'entrepreneur by default' as opposed to 'entrepreneur by choice'. These measurement issues show that the notion of 'entrepreneurship' should be considered carefully, especially in former Soviet economies like Georgia, and force observers to ask where entrepreneurship actually begins.

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