Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2014
This worldwide report shows different views toward entrepreneurship in Norway and the US
Photo: Pål Bugge / Innovation Norway
The report shows that while there are still fewer female than male entrepreneurs, the female ones are generally more satisfied overall.
Rasmus Falck
Oslo, Norway
The 15th report from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor was just published. This report is rapidly expanding in scope: the first report encompassed ten countries, while the current one covers three quarters of the world’s population. According to the report, the U.S. shows the highest entrepreneurial rates among the innovative economies.
The funding institution and sponsor of the report is Babson College, located in Wellesley, Massachusetts. They are recognized as a leader in entrepreneurial management education. Babson has been ranked number one in entrepreneurship education for 18 years in a row. Entrepreneurial thought and action is at the center of their experience. Their partner in Norway is Bodø Graduate School of Business.
One of the goals of the report was to establish the way entrepreneurship relates to economic growth. Entrepreneurship contributes to economic development because entrepreneurs create new businesses, and new businesses create jobs, provide people with a variety of products and services, intensify competition, increase productivity through technological change, and positively impact individual lives on multiple levels. In Norway, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor provided the first useful data on entrepreneurship, crucial for developing evidence-based policy on entrepreneurship.
The past fifteen years have shown serious ups and downs in the business cycle. When a crisis looms, some individuals with entrepreneurial intentions may postpone entrepreneurial activities because of an expected decline in demand. Others may actually see new opportunities emerging from a crisis. Another group may not be driven by opportunity at all but pushed into entrepreneurship as a result of the problems on the job market, especially when social security entitlements are low.
Comparing Norway with the U.S., entrepreneurs in Norway perceive their opportunities as higher than those of the Americans. On the other side, the Americans perceive their capabilities higher. Fear of failure is higher in Norway. Entrepreneurial intentions are more than double in the U.S. One finding this year is that entrepreneurs have higher rates of subjective well-being in comparison to individuals who are not involved in the process of starting a business. In most countries female entrepreneurs are outnumbered by males. However, it seems like females are generally more satisfied.
Entrepreneurship is crucial and applicable to organizations of all types and sizes, whether a newly launched independent startup, a multigenerational family business, a social venture, or an established organization. One of Norway’s challenges ahead is addressing what governments can do to improve the entrepreneurial environment, especially with today’s expected reductions in oil and gas investments.
This article originally appeared in the Sept. 19, 2014 issue of the Norwegian American Weekly. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (800) 305-0271.
