Building Internationally-comparable Entrepreneurship Data International Survey Activity October 2005

Realities of doing an International Survey Challenge Complex subject with many interrelated issues Need for simple, clean data collection approach that is practical and understandable by respondents Outstanding issues of coverage and definitions Issues from the provider perspective

Building Business Indicators Principals: 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) Growth 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

Examples Cont’d Performance Entrepreneurial Support Business survival rates Profit ratios Entrepreneurial Support Access to financing Support programs available Entrepreneurial Opportunity No. women entrepreneurs No. minority entrepreneurs

Response Rates 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

Deciding what is core / non- core Asking for too much risks the following: 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

National, regional, state, provincial other Form to be taken 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) How many groups?

Collection Strategy Who does the work Indicators measure change Do you ask for the change or for the detail Issues – confidentiality, resources, standardization Do you have 1 large data request or smaller homogeneous requests Issues – contacts, response rates, manageability, timing