There are significant cross-country differences in people’s perceptions of the role that school education has in helping them to develop a sense of initiative and an entrepreneurial spirit. In Brazil, Norway and Portugal more than 75% of adults acknowledge the role played by school education, while in Japan this share is less than 20%.

Among people who do not regard entrepreneurship as a feasible career option in the immediate future, the fear of failure is not the major discouraging factor. Only 5% on average cite the risk of failure and its legal and social consequences, with percentages slightly above 10% in India and the Slovak Republic and as little as 1% in Japan, where entrepreneurship rates are traditionally low.

In the majority of countries for which data are available, venture capital investments represent a very small percentage of GDP, e.g. often less than 0.03%. Exceptions are Israel and the United States, where the venture capital industry is more mature and represents 0.5% and 0.2% of GDP respectively.