Global Entrepreneurship Monitor rankings

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor rankings announced in four weeks

New Zealand will soon discover exactly how entrepreneurial it really is compared with 36 other countries.

All will be revealed at 4 am on November 14 with the announcement of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2002 (GEM) conducted by leading research teams from around the world, including UNITEC’s New Zealand Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, London Business School, and Babson College in the United States. This time and date corresponds to the release of the GEM Global Report in New York.

On November 14, the New Zealand Herald will carry a 12-page special supplement about the GEM results. Those of you outside the Herald's circulation radius should plan to pick one up at your news dealer. The December edition of Espy: The Entrepreneur's Bible will include a copy of the GEM report. The Report will also be available for sales on the GEM website for $10.

GEM is the most comprehensive country-by-country comparison of entrepreneurship in the world, and has been conducted here in New Zealand for the second time by GEM partner Auckland-based UNITEC. This year New Zealand is compared to 36 other countries representing three-fifths of the world’s population.

New Zealand is once again one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world and it has retained its high ranking from 2001. Other top rankings to be revealed include the high Mäori entrepreneurship rate, the most entrepreneurial New Zealand city in this years study, and the high level business angel activity.

Professor Howard Frederick, principal author of GEM New Zealand 2001 & 2002 and director of NZCIE, says the results of GEM 2002 provide a road map for New Zealand to develop an entrepreneurship policy to promote the creation of new businesses through market allocation of entrepreneurs.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the need to be innovative and entrepreneurial, and to develop a knowledge economy – this study is going to help us develop a clearer understanding of how to enhance entrepreneurial activity. It fits right into the government’s plans to support home businesses.”

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2002 Report is unprecedented in terms of global scale. Covering 37 countries totaling 2.6 billion adults, it provides a detailed view of a major source of economic growth in the world today – entrepreneurship.

GEM comprises a valid and reliable methodology developed over a five-year period by the most experienced scholars in the field to study the complex relationships between entrepreneurship, economic growth and national prosperity.

Digipoll in Hamilton conducted a survey of 2800 adult New Zealanders between 18-64 years of age and these results were compared with those from 36 other countries. In addition, in-depth entrepreneurship assessment interviews were conducted with 39 Kiwi experts including: entrepreneurs, educators, politicians and business people, with special attention paid to Maori entrepreneurship.

This year, 37 countries are participating in the project: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei , Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, U.S.A., United Kingdom (including Scotland and Wales).

Each participating country conducts its own independent investigation. Every national research team uses exactly the same methods and measures in the same way. This permits direct comparison between New Zealand and the other participating countries.

The GEM New Zealand report will be for sale at www.unitec.ac.nz/gem on November 14.

The GEM New Zealand sponsors include: Enterprise North Shore, Enterprise Waitakere, Lowndes Associates, Espy Magazine, Manukau City Council, Ministry of Economic Development, North Shore City, Te Puni Kökiri – Ministry of Mäori Development, Sweeney Vesty Ltd., UNITEC, and Venture Taranaki.

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