The State of European Entrepreneurship

The paper presented in this PRICE Seminar investigates the quantity and quality of entrepreneurship across France, Germany, and the UK from 2009 to 2023. Using business registry data, the authors assess entrepreneurial activity by measuring both the number of new firm registrations (quantity) and the growth potential of these ventures (quality). They employ predictive analytics models to evaluate firm characteristics linked to successful growth outcomes and estimate quality-adjusted metrics of entrepreneurial activity. Their findings highlight significant cross-country and within-country differences. While factors such as GDP per capita, access to venture capital, and educational attainment are positively associated to the quality of entrepreneurial activity in urban regions, these relationships are less pronounced in rural areas. This underscores the need for ecosystem-wide support strategies rather than isolated interventions.