Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Special Report on Entrepreneurial Employee Activity

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is often expected to have a positive effect on economic progress through its stimulating influence on innovation, competition and industry dynamics. At the same time, entrepreneurship is a multi-dimensional concept, involving many different actors and several levels of analysis. One important distinction contrasts independent (early-stage) entrepreneurial activity by individuals owning and managing a business for their own account and risk, on the one hand, to opportunity pursuit within existing organizations, also known as entrepreneurial employee activity, corporate entrepreneurship or intrapreneurship, on the other. This special topic study , based on the GEM 2011 database, focuses on entrepreneurial employees and shows that these individuals represent a relevant dimension of entrepreneurship revealing interesting patterns across the globe