Building Internationallycomparable
Entrepreneurship Data
International Survey Activity
October 2005
Realities of doing an International
Survey
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Challenge
Complex subject with many interrelated issues
 Need for simple, clean data collection approach that
is practical and understandable by respondents
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Outstanding issues of coverage and definitions
Issues from the provider perspective
Building Business Indicators
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Principals:
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To be an indicator something needs to be measured
through time (longitudinal) to identify + / - shifts
When picking an indicator you need to decide what it is
an indicator of
Examples
(Size * Geo * Ind)
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Growth
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No. of businesses in operation
Employment
Revenue
Growth Potential
No. of exporters
 Value of exports
 Amount of R&D
 Amount of innovation
 Business survival rate
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Examples Cont’d
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Performance
Business survival rates
 Profit ratios
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Entrepreneurial Support
Access to financing
 Support programs available
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Entrepreneurial Opportunity
No. women entrepreneurs
 No. minority entrepreneurs
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Response Rates
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Most data will come from operations managers
and subject matter experts in NSOs
Will require many contacts
Need to understand what data is required, why,
who is going to use it and how
Thematic approach
Easier to explain
 Multiple surveys or survey components
 Improve time line
 Improved communication and co-operation
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Deciding what is core / non- core
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Asking for too much risks the following:
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Level of detail is simply not available
Response burden is too great
Too many contacts within any organization are
required to provide requested data
Accuracy of information reduces as detail
increases
Confidentiality issues come into play in trying to
provide that level of detail
Form to be taken
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What level of estimates do you need?
National, regional, state, provincial other
How do you want to present the data (domains
of estimation)
By Industry – How many groups?
 By size (Employment size / revenue size)
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How many groups?
Collection Strategy
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Who does the work
Indicators measure change
 Do you ask for the change or for the detail
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Issues – confidentiality, resources, standardization
Do you have 1 large data request or smaller
homogeneous requests
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Issues – contacts, response rates, manageability, timing