This volume provides a detailed look at the entrepreneurial ecosystem of different nations by
combining individual data with institutional components. The composite index presented in this
book the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) aims to measure the quality and scale of the
entrepreneurial process in 130 countries around the world. The authors have developed a system
that links institutions and agents through a National Entrepreneurial System (ecosystem) in
which each biotic and abiotic component is reinforced by the other at a country level. The
enclosed data from both individual- and country-level institutions provides policymakers a
tool for understanding the entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses of their respective
economies thereby enabling the implementation of policies that foster productive
entrepreneurship. Distinct from both output-based entrepreneurship indexes (i.e. new firm
counts) and process-based indexes (i.e. comparisons of policies and regulations) the GEI is
designed to profile national systems of entrepreneurship. The GEI is a construction of
individual and institutional measures that integrates 31 variables from various data sources
into 14 pillars three sub-indexes and a 'super index'. The relationship between
entrepreneurship and economic development appears to be more or less mildly S-shaped. The
findings suggest moving away from simple measures of entrepreneurship across countries
illustrating a U-shaped or L-shaped relationship to more complex measures which are positively
related to development. The Index also does not focus exclusively on high-growth
entrepreneurship it also considers the characteristics of entrepreneurship that enhance
productivity: innovation market expansion being growth oriented and having an international
outlook. Moreover because entrepreneurship can have both economic and social consequences for
the individual the GEI captures the dynamic institutionally embedded interactions between the
individual-level attitudes abilities and aspirations that drive productive entrepreneurship.
Thisunique book will be invaluable for researchers policymakers and entrepreneurskeen to
expand their understanding of entrepreneurship and development.
