ACE’s recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report received media coverage with CNN last week. Here is the opinion piece by Associate Professor Paul Steffens, deputy director of ACE:
Essentially the report outlines Australia’s impressive recent entrepreneurial performance. The full report can be found here:
What is GEM
In 2011, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) study was conducted across 54 countries. Over 140,000 adults aged between 18 and 64, including 2,000 in Australia were interviewed. GEM differs from other studies in that by surveying the adult population, it identifies entrepreneurs at the very earliest stages of new business creation.
Highlights
- Australia’s entrepreneurship rate is second only to the USA amongst developed countries
- We estimate that 10.5% of the Australian adult population were actively engaged in starting and running new businesses in 2011. This equates to 1.48 million early-stage entrepreneurs
- Of the estimated 1.48 million early-stage entrepreneurs:
* 40% or 590,000 were women
* 33% or 580,000 expected to creates at least 5 new jobs in the next 5 years
* 11% or 170,000 expected to create 20 or more new jobs in the next 5 years
- Australia also ranks above average for employee entrepreneurial activity in established firms. An estimated 5.0% of the adult population is engaged in developing or launching new products, a new business unit or subsidiary for their employer.
- Australia was one of only three developed countries, together with the US and Netherlands, that ranked above average for both entrepreneurship rate and employee entrepreneurial activity
- Australia outperforms most other developed economies on indicators of the quality and economic impact of its business start-ups, including growth aspirations, number of opportunity-driven start-ups and innovativeness
- The vast majority of start-ups in Australia are founded based on a desire to take advantage of perceived opportunities with only 1 in 5 new ventures started through necessity –
- While the global economic slowdown (GFC) clearly increased the level of necessity driven entrepreneurship in Australia, this increase is not as strong as that experienced in the USA.
- Approximately 50% of the Australians believe that good opportunities exist for the establishment of new ventures, and that they possess the skills to start a business. This is well above international averages.
- International orientation is below average for Australian early state entrepreneurs, most likely due to the geographic distance to international markets
- Australian entrepreneurship is comparatively inclusive. For example, at 8.4% the female total entrepreneurial activity is second only to the USA.