This study aims to understand the necessity of entrepreneurship in a poor emerging economy, where the supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem is not in place.
In the years 2015 and 2019, this study survey first-time small-scale emerging entrepreneurs within the new entrepreneurial ecosystem in Cuba.
The results suggest that the entrepreneurial environment has deteriorated and declined over this period. The study contributes to the understanding of high-vulnerability regions and poverty conditions as found in some emerging economies. This study contributes to the wider literature on policies that inhibit or stimulate necessity entrepreneurship in emerging economies.
The study responds to calls for a better understanding by offering new insights into necessity entrepreneurship in challenging contexts under poverty and crisis; and the ways for recovery. It provides insights into the underexplored Cuban economy.
