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1.2. Research Questions 
The research questions of the study are the following: 
Regarding the motives of entrepreneurship, the research 
question is: which are the main incentives for 
entrepreneurs 
to 
establish 
their 
business? 
Do 
entrepreneurs believe that the current crisis is a threat or 
an opportunity? 
Regarding the issue of entrepreneurship financing, the 

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Evangelia Fragouli and Nikolaos Giannakovitis: Entrepreneurship and Financial Crisis: A Critical Investigation of
Entrepreneurship Prospects and Opportunities That Lie Behind the Financial Crisis 
research questions are: which are the main sources of 
new business financing and which is the degree of 
adoption of forms of financing other than bank loans? 
Regarding the issue of the institutional environment to 
entrepreneurship, the research question is: are 
institutions (clusters, universities, government agencies) 
involved in the concept and the implementation of the 
business idea? 
Regarding the issue of the preparation of entrepreneurs 
for the establishment of their companies, the research 
question is: do new Greek companies have prepared a 
business plan? 
1.3. Research Aim and Objectives 
The main objective of the study is to identify the factors 
which affect the decision of setting up new businesses in 
Greece, 
as 
well 
as 
the 
factors 
associated 
with 
entrepreneurship in the period of the economic crisis. Within 
the main objective of the study, there is a series of parallel 
objectives, such as: 
The identification of financing sources used by 
entrepreneurs and the degree of the adoption of 
financing methods 
The investigation of the role of the institutional 
environment 
The examination of the level of entrepreneurs’ 
preparation, as indicated by the existence of a business 
plan