Entrepreneurial rent-seeking behaviour in the context of governance conditions

Abstract: Entrepreneurship is often linked to some of the most compelling economic and social issues of our time and can therefore be emphasised as essential and relevant. This thesis puts entrepreneurial behaviour in the spotlight and adopts the theoretical lens that enterprises may act as rent-seekers, striving to influence the distribution of income and wealth at the political level for their personal benefit. Because the resources expended on political influence can be seen as non-productive, this entrepreneurial behaviour harms innovation, competitiveness, and the economy as a whole. This work is based on two case studies from two institutionally, politically and socially different contexts and aims to understand the rent-seeking behaviour of enterprises under conditions of governance. Accordingly, cases of Anaklia Deep Sea Port in Georgia and Nord Stream 2 in Germany are brought up for further scrutiny and analysis. The study emphasises the relevance of entrepreneurship as a contextual phenomenon and concludes that governance conditions of a country can have different influences on the rent-seeking behaviour of enterprises. Moreover, this study develops a conceptual generalisation and provides opportunities for further studies.