How do individuals across the Arab Middle East and North Africa experience and engage in entrepreneurial activity — and what factors help or hinder their capacity to do so?
In mid-2023, our team launched an ambitious research endeavor titled Entrepreneurship in the MENA Region: The Uncharted Territory, funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation.
At its core, the project sought to respond to a fundamental gap in both scholarly research and policy understanding:
How do individuals across the Arab Middle East and North Africa experience and engage in entrepreneurial activity — and what factors help or hinder their capacity to do so?
As we reach the closing phase of the grant, I am delighted to reflect on what has been achieved, and more importantly, the enduring legacy this work is poised to create. From the development of an open-access dataset to direct engagement with policymakers, this project has significantly advanced both the academic study of entrepreneurship and its practical relevance in one of the world’s most complex and understudied regions.
Perhaps the most tangible outcome of the project is the creation of the first open-access dataset of aspiring entrepreneurs in the Arab MENA region, comprising more than 8,000 individual responses across six countries: Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. These data, collected through Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) and with the support of trained enumerators, capture a multidimensional picture of entrepreneurial characteristics, intention and behavior at the individual level.
Participants responded to a comprehensive survey encompassing demographic variables, household structure, educational background, employment status, personality traits (based on the Big Five model), entrepreneurial orientation (e.g. innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking, etc.), and motivational factors related to entrepreneurial ambition. The result is a rich and diverse dataset that offers researchers and policymakers alike unprecedented empirical access to the drivers and deterrents of entrepreneurship in a region often generalized but rarely studied in detail. Notably, the survey included gender-disaggregated data, allowing for intersectional and comparative analysis between men and women, nationals and expatriates, and among urban and rural populations.
The full dataset is available at: https://doi.org/10.24377/LJMU.d.00000222
While the production of high-quality data is a major academic contribution in and of itself, the project was equally committed to ensuring that research findings would not remain confined to academic journals. From the outset, we designed the project to produce evidence-based policy insights and to actively engage with decision-makers across the region.
This is precisely what policy representatives emphasized on during the 7th International Conference on Entrepreneurship for Sustainability and Impact, held at Qatar University in Doha in November 2024, where I had the opportunity to present some preliminary findings from our project. [Find the proceedings from the conference here.]
This aspiration came to life through the development of two policy briefs that synthesized findings from our data and translated them into concrete, actionable recommendations.
The first is: “Entrepreneurship in the UAE: Fostering Inclusive Growth for Nascent Entrepreneurs” SSRN Link: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5020770 This brief highlighted the cultural and institutional barriers faced by emerging entrepreneurs in the UAE, with a particular emphasis on gender equity, regulatory support, and access to mentoring networks. The brief was shared with senior UAE officials, including advisors at the Ministry of Economy and the Government Development and the Future Office. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with one senior official noting that the project provided “highly relevant and impactful recommendations that could refine UAE’s entrepreneurship policies.”
The second is: “Entrepreneurship in Lebanon: Unlocking Potentials, Addressing Barriers” SSRN Link: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4880172 Based on fieldwork conducted during a period of profound crises, this brief offered strategic suggestions for improving access to finance, reducing bureaucratic constraints, and investing in youth-led business initiatives. The brief was presented during a formal meeting with Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who welcomed the findings as “a strategic approach to revitalizing Lebanon’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
Both briefs attracted media coverage across Lebanon and the wider Arab region, including reports in national newspapers, television interviews, and a feature on the Lebanese government’s official portal.
These engagements mark a great achievement: the translation of rigorous academic research into meaningful political dialogue.
The academic dimension of this project has also flourished. One article has already been published in the top-quartile journal ‘Gender Issues’: Haj Youssef, M.H., & Sayour, N. (2025). "Exploring Gendered Perspectives on Personality Traits and Entrepreneurial Performance in Lebanon During the COVID-19 Crisis" https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-025-09350-2 Two additional articles are currently under peer review with Q1 journals while six more manuscripts are under active development. These include studies on: Cross-country differences in entrepreneurial characteristics and personality; the role of social networks and motherhood in shaping entrepreneurial pathways, individual entrepreneurial orientation among domestic and international entrepreneurs; and methodological contributions for using the dataset in micro-econometrics and comparative research.
These papers not only speak to high scholarly standards but are also designed with a view to generating replicable and policy-relevant insights that others can build upon.
The first study, noted above, "Exploring Gendered Perspectives on Personality Traits and Entrepreneurial Performance in Lebanon During the COVID-19 Crisis", analyzed data from 500 Lebanese entrepreneurs (51.6% women) to understand how Big Five personality traits shaped financial resilience during the COVID-19 crisis, finding that women’s higher levels of agreeableness and neuroticism — traits often undervalued in business contexts — were actually linked to stronger financial performance, while high conscientiousness appeared to reduce adaptability under pressure. Extraversion and openness to experience showed no gender-specific effects. These findings offer practical guidance for policymakers and support organizations. Encouraging relational skills like agreeableness and making use of the heightened sensitivity associated with neuroticism can help entrepreneurs navigate crises more effectively. At the same time, training that addresses the rigidity linked to conscientiousness may improve adaptability in uncertain environments. By aligning support programs with gender-specific personality dynamics, these insights can contribute to more resilient and inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Another dimension of this project’s legacy lies in capacity building and education. The dataset has already been integrated into undergraduate and postgraduate research modules at Liverpool John Moores University, enabling students to engage directly with original research data. Students have learned about survey design, econometric techniques, and entrepreneurship modelling through live data labs, thereby strengthening the research-teaching nexus. We are also planning an online workshop for researchers in the MENA region to be held later this year. This will provide hands-on training for early career scholars interested in using the dataset for their own research.
One of the most exciting developments emerging from the project was the recognition that the dataset could support a longitudinal study. We now plan to return to respondents — particularly in Lebanon — to assess how their entrepreneurial characteristics and outcomes evolve over time in the context of ongoing crisis. This will enable us to explore questions of entrepreneurial resilience, business survival, and adaptation strategies in settings marked by political uncertainty and socio-economic volatility.
The journey was not without its challenges. Delays in ethical approval, participant fatigue due to the 55 minute average survey length, and political instability in some research sites all required flexibility and perseverance. Nonetheless, we navigated these issues without compromising data quality, a testament to the dedication of our research team and field enumerators.
Our aim has never been simply to complete a research project — it has been to build a platform for lasting, systemic impact. The dataset, publications, and policy engagements resulting from this project will continue to generate value well beyond the grant period. In the coming years, we expect researchers to use this data to investigate diverse phenomena such as: the effect of family background on entrepreneurial decisions; regional differences in women’s entrepreneurial ambition; psychological traits and entrepreneurial success in uncertain environments. At the same time, we hope that policymakers, NGOs, and international development actors will use our findings to design more effective programs that support entrepreneurship — not only as a vehicle for economic development but as a pathway to dignity, self-reliance, and societal resilience.
This project has been a deeply fulfilling journey, both professionally and personally. It stands as a testament to what can be achieved when research is designed not only to understand the world but to improve it.
I am immensely grateful to the Templeton World Charity Foundation for its trust, support, and commitment to research that bridges intellectual curiosity with social purpose. I am also sincerely thankful for the invaluable support of my co-investigators, Mostafa Harakeh, Hiba Hussein and Nagham Sayour, whose contributions have been central to the success of this work. Together, we have taken a meaningful step toward a more nuanced, evidence-based understanding of entrepreneurship in the Arab MENA region — and this is only the beginning. If you are a researcher, policymaker, or entrepreneur interested in using the dataset or collaborating on future initiatives, I warmly invite you to get in touch.
Dr. Moustafa Haj Youssef, Principal Investigator, Entrepreneurship in the MENA Region: The Uncharted Territory, is a Senior Lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University.
