What does “entrepreneurship” data really show?

By Zoltan J. Acs, S. Desai, L. Klapper. 2008

321 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In this paper, we compare two datasets designed to measure entrepreneurship: The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) dataset and the World Bank Group Entrepreneurship Survey (WBGES) dataset. We find a number of important differences when the data are compared. First, GEM data tend to report significantly higher levels of early stage entrepreneurship in developing economies than do the World Bank business entry data, while the World Bank business entry data tend to be higher than GEM data for developed countries. Second, we find that the magnitude of the difference between the datasets across countries is related to the local institutional and environmental conditions for entrepreneurs, after controlling for levels of economic development. Our findings suggest that entrepreneurs in developed countries have greater ease and incentives to incorporate, both for the benefits of greater access to formal financing and labor contracts, as well as for tax and other purposes not directly related to business activities.

Subfields: Accounting, Economics and Econometrics, Management of Technology and Innovation

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/824ef76fe45119f6d85c6a86a15cb08f0496c998

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Citations in the corpus

National Systems of Entrepreneurship: Measurement issues and policy implications (2014, unknown): “Indeed, some estimates suggest unregistered versus registered entry ratios greater than 100:1 in some developing economies (Acs et al., 2008; Autio and Fu, 2012).”
Entrepreneurship is not a Binding Constraint on Growth and Development in the Poorest Countries (2011, methodology): “‘…entrepreneurship has been increasingly considered as an important tool for economic growth and innovation across economies, regardless of stage of economic development’ (Acs et al., 2008: 265).”
Twenty-five years of research on institutions, entrepreneurship, and economic growth: what has been learned? (2019, background): “…institutions are required to explain the endowment of entrepreneurship in each region and country, which could be useful to understanding not only the difference in growth across countries but also why entrepreneurship has different effects on some countries compared with others (Acs et al. 2008a).”
Taxes, corruption, and entry (2016, unknown): “We also control for other dimensions of the regulatory environment more broadly, using insolvency cost, measured as the cost to close a business (Klapper et al. 2006; Acs et al. 2008), and taken from the Doing Business Database.”
Knowledge spillovers and new ventures’ export orientation (2008, methodology): “See also Acs et al. (2008b), who provide a more elaborate discussion of the TEA when comparing it with the World Bank business entry data.”