Exploring institutional challenges to entrepreneurial development: Insights from Northern and Southern BSCIC Zones in Bangladesh

Entrepreneurial development is essential for industrialization, employment generation, poverty reduction, and sustainable economic growth. Despite the institutional support provided by the BSCIC, entrepreneurs continue to face significant barriers to business establishment, operation, and expansion. This study explores the institutional challenges affecting entrepreneurial development in the Northern and Southern BSCIC Zones of Bangladesh. A qualitative research approach was employed, using purposive sampling to collect data through 55 IDIs, 13 KIIs, and six FGDs, involving 74 participants across ten districts. Data were analyzed thematically to identify recurring challenges and contextual differences. The findings reveal six major themes: misalignment of services, bureaucratic delays, credit access challenges, lack of regional focus, weak monitoring systems, and unawareness of entrepreneurs. Inadequate financial assistance, restrictive collateral requirements, administrative complexities, insufficient infrastructure, weak institutional coordination, limited market access, and inadequate entrepreneurial capabilities emerged as critical barriers. The findings also highlight the need for region-specific interventions, transparent administrative procedures, improved infrastructure, accessible financing, stronger monitoring mechanisms, and demand-oriented entrepreneurial training. The study contributes contextual insights into institutional barriers affecting entrepreneurial development within BSCIC industrial estates and among entrepreneurs operating outside them. The cross-sectional design, purposive sampling, and geographically bounded study limit statistical generalizability and may not capture all the experiences of entrepreneurs and other stakeholders across Bangladesh. It recommends coordinated policy interventions and enhanced institutional responsiveness to promote inclusive industrialization, employment generation, and balanced regional development in Bangladesh.