The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is an international comparative research project that seeks to benchmark the level of entrepreneurial activities across countries. GEM was initiated in 1999 by leading scholars from Babson College and the London Business School , with strong support from the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The program has expanded from ten countries in 1999, to 21 countries in 2000, 28 countries in 2001, 37 countries in 2002, 31 countries in 2003 and 34 countries in 2004 and 2005. (link to list of countries participating in 2005)

NEC has carried out the Singapore country study for GEM since Singapore first began participating in GEM in 2000.

More information on the GEM programme may be found on the GEM consortium website at www.gemconsortium.org.

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GEM employs three research approaches:

a) Survey of large sample (exceeding 2,000 individuals) of adult population in each participating country

b) Interviews with expert informants (comprising entrepreneurs, policy makers and venture capitalists) in each participating country

c) Collection of secondary socio-economic data on participating countries

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The level of early stage entrepreneurial propensity in Singapore for year 2005, as measured by the Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rate, has risen from 5.7% in 2004 to 7.2%, the highest recorded since Singapore began participating in GEM in 2000. The increase in aggregate early-stage entrepreneurial propensity in Singapore between 2004 and 2005 is broad-based, with increases observed in "opportunity" entrepreneurship and "necessity" entrepreneurship and higher entrepreneurship prevalence among both males and females.

Consistent with the findings on the improved entrepreneurial activity levels in Singapore, the 36 expert informants that were interviewed as part of the GEM Study rated Singapore’s environment for entrepreneurship to be generally favourable in 2005. A number of dimensions registered improvement in experts’ assessment; particularly, the regulation and taxation system, government policy support, and market accessibility.


For more detailed findings from the GEM Singapore study, please view the GEM reports and presentation material.

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