An international study surveyed attitudes toward starting a business and entrepreneurship. Germany ranks low. Why is that?
Not even two out of three Germans (63%) have a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship. Only 27% can imagine starting their own business. This puts Germany at Place 40 of 45 in the "Amway Global Entrepreneurship Report 2016" (AGER) study. Nuremberg-based GfK surveyed 50,861 participants in 45 countries between April and June. Prof. Dr. Isabell M. Welpe, Chair of Strategy and Organization at the Technical University of Munich, provided scientific support for the study.
Globally, 771,000 people are positive about entrepreneurship, and 431,000 people can imagine starting their own business. In an international regional comparison, the EU comes last, with 741,000 and 391,000. The greatest enthusiasm for entrepreneurship is found in South America. The picture is similar when it comes to expectations for the future: Worldwide, 391,000 people expect the number of self-employed people to increase in the future. In the EU, 351,000 people expect self-employment to increase, compared to only 311,000 in Germany.
Founding a business as an escape from poverty?
The obvious conclusion is that prosperity and a highly developed social system discourage entrepreneurship: Why take risks when you can live so well? However, the study results only partially confirm this: While the developing countries Vietnam and Mexico are among the top five startup-friendly countries, ranking second and fifth, respectively, the Scandinavian model welfare states of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden take first, third, and fourth place, respectively. There, almost all respondents support entrepreneurship, with scores ranging from 93 to 96 percent.
The study also calculates an index called "AESI," which is intended to reflect the entrepreneurial spirit in individual countries. Vietnam leads this ranking, followed by India, Thailand, China, and South Africa. Germany ranks 39th out of 45.
What's the reason? The economic environment or the culture?
So how can the weak German result be explained? Professor Isabell M. Welpe sees cultural reasons:
“Germany’s repeated low ranking in the AESI is probably due to the Germans’ strong desire for security rather than risk.”
And she supports her statement with another study:
“According to a recent survey among students, the most preferred type of employment after graduation is a career as a civil servant.”
That sounds plausible. But the differences between industrialized and less developed economies probably can't be explained solely by cultural attitudes. The types of companies founded and the market environment are too different for that.
However, especially compared to the Scandinavian countries, a different attitude toward entrepreneurship is evident. Certainly, the rest of Europe could also benefit from a greater propensity for entrepreneurial risk-taking. At the very least, greater appreciation for founders would be helpful.
