I have been offering some of my thoughts on entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe during our travels here the past three weeks.
One of my students, John Price, made the following observation about the entrepreneurial brain drain that seems to be taking place in many countries in this part of the world:
We’ve been able to travel through five different countries while learning about the history and culture along the way. While studying in Europe, I was able to research the economic and entrepreneurial activity in each country we visited. I focused my attention on Hungary, specifically the city of Budapest. I found that the younger generation of entrepreneurs was nearly non-existent. Many of the younger people in the city have decided to move away to pursue other means of work around Europe. The majority of the entrepreneurs are in Budapest are in their late 60’s, which happens to be the average life expectancy of Hungarians. What will happen when this older generation are no longer able to be active in their businesses? My hope is that Hungary will be able to encourage the younger generation to stay in Hungary and pursue entrepreneurship