Faculty & Leadership Blog / Faculty in the News

State Department Presentation On Global Entrepreneurship

Last week I had the opportunity to visit the US State Department in Washington, D. C. with two of my entrepreneurship colleagues, Prof. Donna Kelley and Prof. Abdul Ali.

Donna made a presentation about the findings of the 2010 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Research Project. GEM is a 59 country study of more than 175,000 people, conducted annually by more than 200 scholars. The study investigates individuals and their activities in starting, growing and managing entrepreneurial firms.  http://www3.babson.edu/eship/research-publications/gem.cfm

The research has gained significant policy attention because of the ability to compare across different stages of development, and because it investigates attitudes of entrepreneurs (such as perceptions of opportunity, fear of failure), considers capabilities of entrepreneurs (skills, education) and considers aspirations for expanding businesses and hiring new employees. This is particularly important because job growth is of great interest to economies around the world.

Further by focusing on people, the GEM study differentiates from other studies which focus mostly on firms. More importantly, this study compares differences among different populations, women, minorities, immigrants and youth.   Countries gain a better understanding of gaps between different age groups as well as between men and women in rates of venture creation, fear of failure and aspirations for growth—and these can be helpful to formulating policies and programs to expand women’s and youths’ entrepreneurship and overall economic development.

This study is a source of data for the Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP) sponsored by the State Department http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/141163.pdf

In the words of Steven Koltai, the Executive Director of the program, GEP has identified countries right at the “tipping point” of entrepreneurial growth and is developing programs, sponsoring forums, working to help develop angel networks and generally encourage and facilitate entrepreneurship in more than 15 countries.  Our GEM research includes data on 11 of these countries, which is helpful for the programs sponsored by GEP.

Candida G. Brush, Professor of Entrepreneurship
Franklin W. Olin Chair in Entrepreneurship
Chair- Entrepreneurship Division
Director-Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship