The global entrepreneurship index as a benchmarking tool? Criticisms from an efficiency perspective
Journal of Intellectual Capital
ISSN: 1469-1930
Article publication date: 25 March 2020
Issue publication date: 17 February 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Based on an efficiency analysis of the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI), the purpose was to demonstrate that the Key Performance Indicators’ analysis leads to a misinterpretation of the dynamics of National Systems of Entrepreneurship (NSEs). This might hamper the formulation of sound initiatives in other economies, with relevant implications for developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
This study categorized GEI indicators into output and input indicators. Following this procedure, each dimension was analyzed separately and then compared to each other, considering countries’ productivity rates. The main focus is given to the case of the US, the usual benchmark for NSEs and leader in the GEI Index. Lastly, a taxonomy of NSEs according to their efficiency levels was developed.
Findings
The findings of the analysis demonstrates that innovation-driven economies with lower positions in GEI ranking often have higher productivity rates when compared to economies with higher positions in GEI ranking. Specifically, the US appears not to be a good benchmark in terms of NSE efficiency.
Research limitations/implications
The study’s approach is limited in scope by data availability on NSEs and the use of GEI, a representation of aggregate patterns of country-level entrepreneurial dynamics. More refined data are needed in order to clarify some insights from this research.
Practical implications
The perception of systemic efficiency should be considered more thoroughly when designing dedicated entrepreneurship-oriented policies in other countries that aim at establishing a more vibrant entrepreneurial system while facing resource constraints.
Social implications
Simplistic views of systemic aspects may hamper the formulation of sound entrepreneurship-oriented initiatives with particularly relevant implications for public policy in laggard economies.
Originality/value
The value of this article relies on applied a simple metric – efficiency ratio – order than, e.g. data envelopment analysis to portray a key issue related to the interpretation of supranational rankings related to the entrepreneurship ecosystem make mainly by policymakers and scholars that is: pick the 1st one, follow the leader.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Dirk Meissner’s and Bruno Fischer’s contribution to this article is based on the study funded by the Basic Research Program of the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) and by the Russian Academic Excellence Project ‘5‐100’.Bruno Fischer acknowledges funding from the São Paulo Research Foundation (Fapesp Grant #2016/17801‐4).Eduardo Avancci Dionisio acknowledges this study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior ‐ Brasil (CAPES) ‐ Finance Code 001.
Citation
Inacio Junior, E., Dionisio, E.A., Fischer, B.B., Li, Y. and Meissner, D. (2021), "The global entrepreneurship index as a benchmarking tool? Criticisms from an efficiency perspective", Journal of Intellectual Capital, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 190-212. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIC-09-2019-0218
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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