Gallup's news from Europe
Entrepreneurship - alive and kicking?
Earlier this year the Gallup Organization conducted a survey on entrepreneurship in the EU as part of the Flash Eurobarometer series. The survey covered all of the EU Member States together with the US Iceland and Norway. A key finding was that almost two-thirds of respondents saw the road to self-employment as an opportunity. This was especially true in the new Member States. So although the average American was far more likely to feel the entrepreneurial urge the results showed that the Europeans were gaining ground.
As for fears these were similar on both sides of the Atlantic with bankruptcy keeping people awake at night in both continents. In general a lack of finance was the main barrier that could stop people taking the entrepreneurial route.
In the survey 50% of respondents opted for "employee' status with 45% preferring the entrepreneurial route (see graph on the right). Of the latter group would-be European entrepreneurs are most likely to be young male and still in education. Over half (51%) of 15-24 year-olds would like to be an entrepreneur with that number rising to 62% in the new Member States. An encouraging sign for policymakers was that almost half (44%) of the 15-24 year-olds were of the opinion that their education played a vital role in giving them an interest in becoming an entrepreneur.
Throughout the survey respondents in the new Member States were particularly keen to show their enthusiasm for starting up a business. Dramatic increases in confidence were seen in Slovakia (up to 39% from 17% in 2004) and Latvia (up to 42% from 24%). This change of mindset is needed as the survey showed that almost half of Europeans have never even thought about starting up a business. This is almost double the corresponding US figure.
For the full report of the Flash Eurobarometer - "Entrepreneurship Survey of the EU US Iceland and Norway see http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/flash/fl_192_en.pdf.
