Understanding how national policy can spur entrepreneurial activity is central to entrepreneurship research. Over the past decade, there has been a limited set of research findings to suggest that social spending may increase entrepreneurship in addition to serving more direct social purposes. We examine the topic through the lens of market failure theory and Austrian economics. In accordance with the Austrian perspective, we theorize that social spending increases the opportunity cost of entrepreneurship, thereby decreasing the attractiveness of entrepreneurship in comparison to salaried employment. Drawing from a sample of 31 developed countries spanning 2004–2011, we investigate the effects of social spending on entrepreneurial attitudes and activity. Our results indicate that country level social spending negatively affects entrepreneurial activity, business ownership, and the public’s view of entrepreneurship as a career choice. The findings suggest that social spending may be better suited for addressing social issues compared to spurring entrepreneurial attitudes or activity. Our findings have implications for both the entrepreneurship and national policy literature.

了解国家政策如何刺激企业家活动对于企业家精神研究至关重要。在过去的十年中，仅有少量的研究结果表明，社会支出除了服务于更直接的社会目的外，还可以增加企业家精神。我们通过市场失灵理论和奥地利经济学的视角来研究这个话题。根据奥地利的观点，我们认为社会支出会增加企业家精神的机会成本，从而与有薪就业相比会降低企业家精神的吸引力。我们从2004年至2011年的31个发达国家样本中，研究了社会支出对企业家态度和活动的影响。我们的结果表明，国家层面的社会支出对企业家活动，企业所有权以及公众将企业家精神视为职业选择的看法产生了负面影响。研究结果表明，与刺激企业家的态度或活动相比，社会支出可能更适合解决社会问题。我们的发现对企业家精神和国家政策文献都有影响。