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Global Enterprise Monitor Survey 2001

Australia, New Zealand and Mexico proved to be the most entrepreneurially active countries last year, while the United States, long a dominant powerhouse in entrepreneurial new business formation, slipped sharply in terms of new business start-ups. Furthermore, most of the countries comprising the European Union, including the United Kingdom, were among the least entrepreneurial countries, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2001 (GEM). The study of entrepreneurship and economic growth was conducted by Babson College, London Business School, the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and IBM.

About 150 million people, or ten per cent of the adult population in 29 countries analysed in the study, are engaged in some form of entrepreneurial activity - as measured by adult individuals aged 18-64 involved in new business formation. This varies sharply from country to country, from a low of five per cent of adults in Belgium and Japan, to about 18 per cent of adults in Mexico. The GEM was created in 1997 as a joint research initiative by Babson College and the London Business School, supported by the Kauffman Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The aim was to bring together leading scholars in order to study the complex relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth.

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© GEM 2002

The Kauffman Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership in Kansas City, Mo., is taking an innovative approach to accelerating entrepreneurship through educational programming and research. Inspired by his passion to provide opportunity for other entrepreneurs, Ewing Marion Kauffman launched the Kauffman Center, the largest organization solely focused on entrepreneurial success at all levels - from elementary students to high-growth entrepreneurs. The Kauffman Center is funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. For more information visit our Web site at http://www.entreworld.org.

Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., recognized internationally as a leader in entrepreneurial management education, grants BS, MBA and custom MS degrees through its Undergraduate Program and the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, and offers executive development programs to experienced managers worldwide through the Babson School of Executive Education. The College's for-profit venture, Babson Interactive LLC, develops distance learning programs and business simulations for executives and graduate students. More information about Babson is available at http://www.babson.edu.

London Business School is the graduate school of business at London University. Founded in 1965, the School this year graduated 600 MBAs, MScs, Masters in Finance and PhDs from 57 countries. With 80 percent of the students and 70 percent of the faculty being non-British, London Business School is the most international institution of higher education in the United Kingdom. In 2001, London Business School served 5,000 executives on short programmes. The Financial Times ranked London Business School eighth in the world each of the past three years. You can find out more about London Business School from our Web site http://www.london.edu.

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, a leader in e-business, with 80 years of leadership in helping companies innovate. IBM's NetGen division is focused on delivering customized, flexible and scalable Internet solutions for companies of all sizes. Under the Blue Velocity initiative, IBM's Global Net Generation Business helps service providers as well as emerging technology and Web-based companies establish their businesses and become profitable in Internet time. For more information visit http://www.ibm.com/bluevelocity/.