Global Entrepreneurship Monitor and entrepreneurs’ export orientation

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) presents an annual assessment of the national level of ‘early-stage’ entrepreneurial activity and the institutional conditions to which it is subject in a large number of countries. Within the framework of GEM a TEA (Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity) index has been developed to measure (early-stage) entrepreneurial activity. Next to this TEA index, the GEM also provides an indicator for the prevalence of export-oriented entrepreneurs within countries. This chapter presents an example of an empirical analysis using macro-level GEM data for 36 countries. More specifically, this chapter investigates whether the presence of export-oriented entrepreneurs is a more important determinant of economic growth than entrepreneurial activity in general. Our results suggest that export-oriented entrepreneurship is indeed more important for achieving high economic growth rates than entrepreneurial activity in general.