Overview
This research project is motivated by the belief and concern that business start-up activities remain low in Japan despite the importance of such activities (entrepreneurship) to the Japanese economy. The main themes of our research include: 1) differences in business start-up activities across countries, 2) relationships between economic activities and business start-up activities, 3) factors behind the differences in business start-up activities. Based on findings from the research, we will put forward a set of policy proposals for invigorating entrepreneurship spirit and business start-up activities in Japan in a fair and unbiased manner. Our empirical research will revolve around surveys conducted under the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). A world-scale research program in which Japan has been participating since 1999, the GEM organizes the following the three sets of surveys in 59 countries (as of 2010) around the world: 1) adult population survey (APS) in which at least 2,000 adults are taken as the sample per country, 2) national expert survey (NES), and 3) macroeconomic survey of macroeconomic data such as GDP and jobless rates.
September 13, 2011 - March 31, 2013
