Global entrepreneurship

The 2006 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor is out which covers entrepreneurial activity and economic development in 42 countries.

The report found substantial declines in early-stage start-up activity in the world's richest nations. In the U.S. such entrepreneurial activity fell from 12.4 per cent in 2005 to 10 per cent last year; in Germany and France it dropped from 5.4 per cent to 4.2 per cent;  while in Ireland it fell from 9.8 per cent to 7.4 per cent. By contrast, in China early stage entrepreneurship rose to 16.2 per cent from 13.7 per cent. India also reported a high rate of entrepreneurial activity.

The full report is here  (hat tip: Sandy Maxey).

Comments

[Sandy]

The bottom line is this:

If innovation is the engine of economic growth, then entrepreneurs are the vehicle of growth.

For all of the money spent on R&D, capital investment in research parks and other innovation investments, public and nonprofit focus on entrepreneurial development is woefully substandard. Entrepreneurial development- think systems and networks- is perversely underfinanced and fundamentally fragmented and categorical.

This GEM data is one more bit of evidence of this lack of focus.