A Framework for Addressing and Measuring Entrepreneurship

In recent years entrepreneurship has become a buzzword that?s entered the mainstream. Politicianscontinuously cite its importance and the need to create more entrepreneurial societies, and newspapers andtelevision programmes frequently create themes around successful entrepreneurs. But, the pursuit anddevelopment of policies related to entrepreneurship are often hampered by the limited, albeit growing,empirical information relating to entrepreneurship (its size, factors and benefits). Therefore, in the absenceof definitions that capture the essence of entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship indicators that areinternationally comparable, policy makers are left somewhat rudderless when it comes to developingpolicies, particularly when they relate to learning from international best-practice. These shortcomings andthe growing importance of entrepreneurship in the policy domain have magnified the need for a sounderbasis for internationally comparable indicators of entrepreneurship. This paper provides a framework thatis intended to provide that sounder basis. It does so by adopting a holistic approach, and, so, by focusing onthe: factors that impede or motivate entrepreneurship (determinants) measures that provide indicators ofthe state of entrepreneurship (entrepreneurial performance) and, outcomes (impacts) of that performanceon the economy as a whole. Each of these three themes provides the overarching structure to theframework, using a standardised OECD definition of entrepreneurship, and, within each, we develop asuite of indicators that provide the basis for quantifiable information to be collected in an internationallycomparable way for each of these themes.