Varieties of capitalism and the base of pyramid population segment in affluent economies : Discussion on entrepreneurship financing and skills development

This chapter addresses an under-researched topic of the Base of Pyramid in affluent economies by specifically focussing on varieties of capitalism perspective as a theoretical lens. We focus on coordinated market economies (CME) of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and liberal market economies (LME) of Ireland and UK, in the current chapter. We use publicly available statistics to present an overview of the current situation in the above-mentioned coordinated and LME, followed by specific discussion on the entrepreneurship financing and skills development dynamics. The discussion reveals that significant differences exist in CME and LME with regards to base of pyramid population segment, and in the premises of financing and specific skills development for entrepreneurship. We highlight the issues such as entrepreneurship specific vocational training, and consideration of non-conventional financial instruments as being potentially useful for entrepreneurship promotion in affluent economies.