Latest Finnish GEM report

At last. Finnish GEM report for 2011 was published about two weeks ago. Here's the link.

But here you have some main findings (quick and dirty version):

1. Early-stage entrepreneurial activity is now higher than during the recession. Now 5.7 % of the adult population is involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activities. This means that every month on average roughly 16.100 Finnish adults are engaged in early-stage entrepreneurship.

2. The overall entrepreneurial activity, measuring the share of Finnish adult population involved in either early-stage entrepreneurial activity or established business ownership, is 15.1 % in 2010. That's second highest among the Nordic countries and 8th among innovation-driven economies. Awesome!

3. More and more individuals in Finnish adult population recognize business opportunities. Even if the active engagement in starting up new businesses is still low, over half of the Finnish adult population has recognized business opportunities. However, only 6 % of the adult population had actual intentions to start up a business within three years. This share is the lowest among the Nordic countries and among the lowest in innovation-driven and all GEM countries. Guys, this sucks!

4. In 2010 about 3 % of the Finnish adult population acted as a business angel by providing funds for early-stage entrepreneurial activity during the past three years. The share is low compared to the other GEM countries. What's the news here???

5. The share of highly innovative early-stage entrepreneurial activity in Finland is clearly lower than the average in innovation-driven economies. Finnish new entrepreneurs manage only rarely to introduce products and services, which are new to all customers and do not meet direct competition. No wonder that with the measures Finland is ranked as the lowest among Nordic countries, and as second lowest among innovation-driven economies. Are we happy with this???

6. Finnish rate of high-growth oriented entrepreneurs is clearly lower than in other Nordic countries. In 2002–2010 approximately 5.5 % of every early-stage entrepreneurially active individual has had high growth expectations. The low growth expectations create challenges for the development of Finnish employment. Oh yeah?

7.The entrepreneurial activity among highly educated individuals has declined under improving economic circumstances. This implies about increase in the opportunity costs of entrepreneurship when the availability of other job options improves. The novel Global Entrepreneurship and Develop Index (thank you Zoltan Acs and Laszlo Szerb) further supports this disparity: entrepreneurial attitudes and culture are already opportune in Finland, but most capable individuals are not willing to become entrepreneurs. Hey all the entrepreneurship societies... you have some work to do.