Impacting Policies, Values, and Discourse

The Butler Institute for Free Enterprise Through Entrepreneurship at Babson College facilitates exploration at the intersection of government, business, and society by considering how policies, social values, and ethical business influence entrepreneurship, free enterprise, and prosperity for all. 

Mission

The Butler Institute is designed to encourage research and policy outcomes that will affect systems and societies, augmenting the century-long success Babson has had impacting individual entrepreneurs and their organizations.

Areas of Research

The Butler Institute will explore high-level questions such as:

•  How do different economic systems contribute to economic and social value creation?
•  What role does entrepreneurship play in creating economic and social value?
•  Which factors in government, society, and business foster or constrain value creation?
•  How do we design systems that encourage the optimal level of value creation?

It is also the new home for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the Babson-led research study that has been examining levels of entrepreneurial activity around the globe for two decades.

Programming

First, programming will aim to inform policy by studying the relationship between entrepreneurship and free enterprise. Longitudinal data will be collected and insights will be regularly shared with local and national policymakers.

Further programming will foster a community of thinkers and business leaders that examines the policies and practices that create economic and social value for businesses, regions, and economies. Through the Butler Institute, a combination of lectures, annual summits, and coursework will ensure that free enterprise ideas are regularly explored by Babson’s community.

With this approach, the Butler Institute will inform business policy, regulations, and practices and be able to have a macro-level impact.