• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report calls on policymakers to create right conditions for an enterprise-led economic recovery worldwide.

Policymakers around the world must provide clear advice and practical support for entrepreneurs to ensure global economies recover from the devastation of coronavirus, a new report says.

Presenting a snapshot of support measures introduced by 54 countries around the world since the Covid-19 outbreak, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) – whose UK team is led by Professor Mark Hart of Aston University – says entrepreneurs starting and growing their businesses will be key to a return to global growth.

It has called on governments and enterprise agencies to prioritise clear communication and reduce red tape to help entrepreneurs take advantage of changes in technology and consumer behaviour since the start of the pandemic.

The report assesses each participating country’s performance against a set of nine metrics known as the GEM Entrepreneurial Framework Conditions. The chapter on the UK’s response highlights the gaps in support for many early-stage entrepreneurs and fears that measures implemented early on to help entrepreneurs and firms are being withdrawn too soon.

Longitudinal analysis by the Enterprise Research Centre, which is co-located at Aston Business School and Warwick Business School, has shown that net new job creation in the UK following the Great Recession of 2007-09 was largely driven by entrepreneurs starting new businesses.

Mark Hart, Professor of Small Business and Entrepreneurship at Aston Business School and Deputy Director of the Enterprise Research Centre, said:

“While all countries have seen business life severely disrupted by the pandemic, our concern is that the UK’s efforts to support entrepreneurs have been patchy and are being withdrawn in an overly hasty way.

“This stands in stark contrast to many other developed economies. Germany and France, for example, recently extended their equivalents of the furlough scheme into 2022 – and this is in countries that have seen smaller contractions in GDP than Britain’s.

“The GEM report provides a comprehensive reference for policymakers of how countries around the world are supporting their entrepreneurship ecosystems. It’s vitally important we learn from examples of best practice globally to lay strong foundations for an enterprise-led recovery.”

 

GEM is the world’s largest survey of entrepreneurship and is the only global research source that collects data on entrepreneurship directly from individual entrepreneurs.

The full GEM impact report, Diagnosing Covid-19 Impacts on Entrepreneurship, sponsored by Shopify, the Canadian multinational e-commerce company, is available for download here.

 

ENDS

 


Notes to Editors

About Aston University:  Founded in 1895 and a University since 1966, Aston is a long established university led by its three main beneficiaries – students, business and the professions, and our region and society. Aston University is located in Birmingham and at the heart of a vibrant city and the campus houses all the university’s academic, social and accommodation facilities for our students. Professor Alec Cameron is the Vice Chancellor & Chief Executive.

For media inquiries in relation to this release, call James Tout, ZPB Associates
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