This report constitutes the ninth annual assessment and review of entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurial perceptions in countries participating in the GEM project. Since the first report was published in 1999 by scholars at Babson College and London Business School, GEM has developed into one of the world’s leading research consortia concerned with improving our understanding of the relationships between perceptions of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial activity, and national economic growth. To this end, the project has, from the start, been designed as a multinational, harmonized research program providing annual assessments of the entrepreneurial sector for a range of countries.

Key Findings

• The GEM results confirms that early-stage entrepreneurship is more likely to be opportunity driven in high-income countries than in middle- and low-income countries, where entrepreneurship may in many cases be the only option for making a living.

• Most of the businesses identified in GEM show either no or only limited medium-term growth potential, as measured by job creation expectations.

• Entrepreneurship scholars tend to focus on the role of domestic political, legal, and economic institutions in creating an environment conducive to innovation and new business development. In an increasingly globalized economy, however, international economic institutions such as the World Bank and the World Trade Organization exert a growing influence on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial opportunities. International economic institutions affect entrepreneurship both directly and indirectly. The World Bank, and other institutions that are focused on the transfer of aid to developing countries, have the potential to promote entrepreneurship by building up local market institutions, infrastructure, and financing.

To learn more about GEM or download this report or previous editions, visit GEM at http://www.gemconsortium.org. The report can also be downloaded below:

About Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)