What Does "Entrepreneurship" Data Really Show? A Comparison of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and World Bank Group Datasets
This paper compares two datasets designed to measure entrepreneurship. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor dataset captures early-stage entrepreneurial activity; the World Bank Group Entrepreneurship Survey dataset captures formal business registration. There are a number of important differences when the data are compared. First, GEM data tend to report significantly greater levels of early-stage entrepreneurship in developing economies than do the World Bank data. The World Bank data tend to be greater than GEM data for developed countries. Second, 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. A possible explanation for this is that the World Bank data measure rates of entry in the formal economy, whereas GEM data are reflective of entrepreneurial intent and capture informality of entrepreneurship. This is particularly true for developing countries. Therefore, this discrepancy can be interpreted as the spread between individuals who could potentially operate businesses in the formal sector - and those that actually do so: In other words, GEM data may represent the potential supply of entrepreneurs, whereas the World Bank data may represent the actual rate of entrepreneurship. The 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.
| Summary: | This paper compares two datasets
designed to measure entrepreneurship. The Global
Entrepreneurship Monitor dataset captures early-stage
entrepreneurial activity; the World Bank Group
Entrepreneurship Survey dataset captures formal business
registration. There are a number of important differences
when the data are compared. First, GEM data tend to report
significantly greater levels of early-stage entrepreneurship
in developing economies than do the World Bank data. The
World Bank data tend to be greater than GEM data for
developed countries. Second, 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. A possible explanation for this is that the
World Bank data measure rates of entry in the formal
economy, whereas GEM data are reflective of entrepreneurial
intent and capture informality of entrepreneurship. This is
particularly true for developing countries. Therefore, this
discrepancy can be interpreted as the spread between
individuals who could potentially operate businesses in the
formal sector - and those that actually do so: In other
words, GEM data may represent the potential supply of
entrepreneurs, whereas the World Bank data may represent the
actual rate of entrepreneurship. The 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. |
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