Entrepreneurs Speak Out: A Call to Action for G20 Governments

Overview

The Nice Côte d’Azur 2011 Entrepreneurship Barometer.

Entrepreneurs have a crucial role in determining the future prosperity of the G20. With countries haunted by the prospect of a return to recession, it is the creation of new business that will have the greatest impact on growth and employment.

For policy makers in the mature-market economies, until recently focused primarily on reducing fiscal deficits and containing the size of public debt-to-GDP ratios, the goal of sustained economic growth has, in recent months, become an increasingly elusive ambition. This means there is scope for these governments to be much more creative as they seek to strengthen their economies.

While the G20 rapid-growth economies have been basking in consistent expansion, this growth has often been overly dependent on the global commodity price boom or on low-cost exports. Policy makers in these countries must also take creative steps now to reduce vulnerabilities and safeguard the future of their economies.

And yet while governments are united in lauding the importance of entrepreneurship, in all G20 countries there is room for improving aspects of the environment in which entrepreneurs operate. This report outlines in detail where each G20 member's areas of greatest potential improvement are, and recommends what should be done to realise that potential.

This report also goes further and emphasises not only what governments can do, but also what entrepreneurs can do to seize opportunities presented by the environment in which they operate. Ultimately, the success of a country's entrepreneurship environment will be judged by the number of leading entrepreneurs that emerge from it and the successful businesses they create. This report aims to be a useful tool for helping to increase that number.