The Budapest LAB Office for Entrepreneurship is BBS’s first Centre of Excellence, which integrates the activities of BBS in the field of entrepreneurship research.
Budapest LAB conducts applied research and participates in international research projects in order to provide answers to questions that are fundamental for businesses. In addition to scientific articles, it regularly publishes its results in the form of policy recommendations, public policy briefs and publications.
Publications related to Budapest LAB are available here.
The Budapest LAB Working Paper Series is available here.
Research topics, projects
- Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
As of 2020, BBS is the Hungarian partner of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the world’s foremost entrepreneurship study, the base of which is at Budapest LAB within the University. Conducted annually since 1999, GEM provides information on people’s entrepreneurial inclinations, motivations, attitudes, the behaviour of planned businesses and existing firms and their founders, the perception of business opportunities and entrepreneurial paths, and the entrepreneurial motivations of the younger generation.
More about the research project here.
-
Family Business Research Programme
In 2017, Budapest LAB launched a systematic study of family businesses, the first of its kind in Hungary. A number of researchers and small research groups are working on the long-term programme.
Family businesses also receive special attention in the representative biennial Longitudinal Study of Small and Medium Size Enterprises of BBS, which provides an opportunity to determine the number and demographic characteristics of family businesses. We also have up-to-date data on, inter alia, the situation and plans for succession. As the sample is not limited to family businesses, we also have the possibility to draw conclusions specific to family businesses and separate them from the control group (non-family SMEs).
The Family Business Research Programme has also been complemented by other methodological research (interview, longitudinal, case study), which examine issues such as identity, ownership structure and governance of family businesses, succession, HR issues, networking, sustainability and innovation performance. The research also covers the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the COVID19 epidemic on family businesses.
The results of the research programme have been published in academic journals and conference papers, presented to professional organisations and regularly reported in the press. We also organise related events for both the scientific community in the region and the entrepreneurs concerned.
-
Startup research
Budapest LAB started researching Hungarian startups and the ecosystem in 2019. Having established the definitional basis, the next step was to examine the factors that influence the survival and growth of startups. In the following years, we further explored the state of the Hungarian startup ecosystem through expert interviews. This was followed by a more in-depth study of the ecosystem’s key players, incubators and accelerators. In addition to a literature review, we summarised the results of the case studies in a publicly available report (including at the 2nd Entrepreneurship Research Conference). As a continuation of the case study-based research in 2023, the next round of the research project will return to the organisations studied. In addition, we have been investigating how startup founders interpret success, since 2020.
-
Entrepreneurship education
As an active participant in the entrepreneurship ecosystem and as an educational institution, in addition to our development projects (including our Business Plan in a Week course, which won the European Enterprise Development Award), we have been exploring this topic academically since 2021. In addition to reviewing the literature on the topic, with a particular focus on good practices, we have started to map stakeholders’ views and plan to carry out a more in-depth review of domestic good practices.
-
Freelancers in Hungary
Budapest LAB launched a study on Hungarian freelancers in 2019. Due to the lack of research on this topic in Hungary, we started out with an exploratory study.
After a detailed review of national and international literature and legislation, the characteristics of different types of self-employment, including freelancers, were defined, and then the situation and activities of freelancers in Hungary were investigated using questionnaires and interviews. Further research is planned.
In addition to academic publication, the results also appeared in a publicly available publication and widely reported in the media. We also presented them at several events in the Hungarian freelancer community.
If you want to know more, please, contact us!