Realistic evaluation viewpoints on a youth entrepreneurship public intervention

This communication aims to present the partial results of a realist synthesis regarding the Romanian governmental “Programme for encouraging the creation and development of micro enterprises by young entrepreneurs”. The... [ view full abstract ]

This communication aims to present the partial results of a realist synthesis regarding the Romanian governmental “Programme for encouraging the creation and development of micro enterprises by young entrepreneurs”. The main purpose of our analysis is to understand the way in which this intervention works in comparison for groups with different socio-economic statuses, which interact and develop in different contexts. The analyses which have been conducted so far regarding this program point out the fact that one of the most frequent causes for the low involvement of young people in the development of new companies is, along with bureaucratic difficulties, the lack of financial resources. The analysis underlying the program shows that in Romania only one out of 100 young people decides to start a business on his own, in comparison with one in four young people in the Czech Republic, Poland or Hungary. As a response to this situation, the overall objective of the program is to stimulate the creation of new micro-companies, increasing the potential for accessing financing sources and the development of entrepreneurial skills among young people in order to increase their involvement in private economic structures.
In order to picture the underlying mechanisms of the program in the different contexts we are analysing we start from the action theory that policy makers developed to make the program effective. Thus, the program aims to develop entrepreneurial skills based on optimally managing resources and ensure rapid adaptation to the changes determined to markets globalization. After these competencies are developed, young people will be offered opportunities for sources of financing so that they become more stimulated to create and develop new companies (start-ups). In order to support them, assistance for creating the companies, fiscal deductions as well as consultancy after starting the business will be provided. From a realist approach, we start from the hypothesis that by offering better access to financial sources, the program aims to cause a change in young people’s behaviour and to determine them to make decisions and take action, according to the mechanism which has been presented. However, as Pawson et al., 2004 say, ”whether that reasoning, and therefore action, actually change also depends on the subject’s characteristics and their circumstances”. In consequence, the outcome will also be customized for different groups depending on these elements.
The data is collected by using qualitative methods and techniques such as interviews and non-participatory observation. The dimensions on which we have based the items of the research grids are to be applied to young people from different socio-economic groups participating in the program and refer to: the development of entrepreneurial competences by participating in the program; changes in the levels of motivation; the success of young people with very small and small incomes in completing the business plan based on which they were granted financing; survival on the market of companies which were created through the program; the contribution of that companies to the development of the social market economy in the local communities of the beneficiaries.