From the Cabinet of Curiosities: the misdirection of research and policy debates on small firm growth

We would like to thank Professor Mark Hart, Dr Neha Prashar and Dr Anastasia Ri for compiling our Annual Review Article of 2020 which is dedicated to the memory of Michael Anyadike-Danes. Analyses of growth and scalability are of perennial interest given the centrality of this issue and the diverse range of debate it generates; it is clearly of even greater importance during the current pandemic given the disruption to markets and related economic volatility. This review papers offers a refreshing critique of axioms regarding scalability which have been latched onto by policy makers but are not supported by longitudinal evidence and instead, considers alternative pathways for future research. I would like to extend my thanks to the authors and to the referee who commented upon an earlier version of this article, for their valuable contribution to the ISBJ. Understanding business growth, and particularly the growth of small firms, has been the subject of academic enquiry for over 40 years. Yet, it still creates debate and controversy as academics and policy makers wrestle with a rich, complex evidence base. From a policy perspective, ‘scaling’ is an important dynamic to nurture in the UK economy, but we argue that current discussions about ‘scale-ups’ are profoundly unhelpful from a policy perspective and has misdirected research effort and public policy resources. We step away from growth rates as the central concern – the preoccupation of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) High-Growth Firm metric – towards ‘growth trajectories’ which better captures the interplay between growth and survival. It provides a different approach to measuring the contribution of rapidly growing firms to job creation and economic growth

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor : United Kingdom 2019 Monitoring Report

This report documents Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) measures of entrepreneurial attitudes, activity and aspiration in the United Kingdom (UK) and compares the rates to those in Germany and the United States (US). It also summarizes entrepreneurial attitudes, activity and aspiration across the four nations of the UK and reports on business start-up funding expectations

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor : Scotland 2023-24 Report

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is an Annual Population Survey (APS) undertaken in a number of participant countries globally. The survey is identical in each country and asks respondents about their attitudes and perceptions related to entrepreneurship and whether they are involved in some form of entrepreneurial activity. In 2023, GEM undertook structured interviews with over 136, 000 adults across 46 countries. Within the UK, 10,234 adults aged 18 to 80 took part in the GEM Adult Population Survey in 2023 alongside around 120 experts who through the GEM National Expert Survey (NES) provided information about aspects of the country’s socio-economic characteristics that have a significant impact on national entrepreneurship. This report mainly focuses on Scotland, comprising 1,640 participants in the adult working-age bracket (18-64) from an overall sample of 2,060 adults (including those over 65) that took part in the APS, and 40 entrepreneurship experts in Scotland (including entrepreneurs and a range of other ecosystems partners). Headline results for Scotland indicate that Total Early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rate returned a small increase from 8.8% in 2022 to 9.1% in 2023. However, overall, TEA rates in Scotland remain broadly similar in the last 3 years since COVID-19. The two major developments in 2023 are that Minority ethnic (Non-White) TEA reached a new high at 24.1% while female TEA also hit a significant new record level of 8.6% in 2023, from 7.2% in 2022. Momentously, further, female TEA in Scotland appears to have all but closed the gap with male TEA which has itself been steadily declining since 2021 from 11.4% to 10.5% in 2022, to 9.8% in 2023. Effectively, in 2023, the difference between male TEA and female TEA is not statistically significant, suggesting that statistical parity between male and female TEA was attained in Scotland in 2023 - a landmark moment of significant consequence for female entrepreneurship discourse and policy in this country. Nevertheless, important regional differences and other contextual issues remain key concerns in female entrepreneurship in Scotland. While Southern Scotland returns a Female TEA at 8% is higher than male TEA (6.5%), with the Highlands and Islands, West Central, and Eastern Scotland returning relative gender parity in TEA, male TEA in Northern Eastern Scotland at 18.6% was virtually double the female TEA of 9.6%. Further, it is worth highlighting that a panel of entrepreneurship experts judged the context for entrepreneurship in Scotland to be generally mediocre, with the level of support for women’s entrepreneurship worryingly evaluated as less than satisfactory, scoring under three out of ten. Understanding these and other issues related to entrepreneurial attitudes, perceptions and activity in the country is important for policy and practice as entrepreneurship has important implications for the economy and many societal dynamics. Below, this report summarises these and other highlights from the GEM APS and NES surveys undertaken in Scotland in 2023, with relevant interpretations and implications for policy further suggested

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor : Scotland 2020 Report

Background •The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research consortium measured rates of entrepreneurship across multiple phases in 43 economies in 2020, making it the world's most authoritative comparative study of entrepreneurial activity in the general adult population. In the UK in 2020, 9,453 adults aged 18 to 80 participated in the GEM survey. This report mainly focuses on Scotland, comprising 2,019 participants, of which 1,648 are from the working age population (18-64 years). •This monitoring report details GEM measures of entrepreneurial attitudes, activity and aspirations in Scotland and compares the results across the four home nations of the UK. We also explore regional differences within Scotland at the NUTS2 region level. •As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the obvious disruptive impact on the lives of all of us, including the huge impact on the economy, it was decided that the GEM UK survey, in line with all GEM Global participating countries, should be pushed back until Q4 of 2020 rather than June through August. The UK team felt that this was preferable to not undertaking the survey at all as the pandemic raised many important questions about the ability of entrepreneurs, and indeed the wider population, to navigate their way through the crisis as the economy was effectively closed down and household incomes were under great stress for the majority of the population. As it turned out Q4 2020 in the UK witnessed another second and third waves of the COVID-19 virus, which led to two further lockdowns. The specific COVID-19 findings need to be understood against that context. Entrepreneurial Activity •Total early-stage Entrepreneurial Activity or TEA (the sum of the nascent entrepreneurship rate and the new business owner-manager rate - without double counting) in Scotland in 2020 was 7.3%. •TEA rates in 2020 were not significantly different across the home nations: Scotland (7.3%), England (7.7%), Wales (6.5%), and Northern Ireland (5.4%). Changes in TEA rates from 2019 to 2020 in Scotland, Wales and Norther Ireland were not statistically significant. However, the rate in England in 2020 (7.7%) was statistically significantly lower than the rate in 2019 (10.5%). •Employees can also be engaged in entrepreneurial activity on behalf of their employers; this is measured through the Entrepreneurial Employee Activity (EEA) Rate. In 2020, Scotland's rate was 3.7%, which is comparable with UK's rate of 3.2% (which was statistically significantly lower than 2019 rate (5.6%)). Considering both TEA and EEA together provides a more comprehensive picture of entrepreneurial activity in a nation. •TEA rate within Scotland is highest in the Highland and Islands region (8.7%), followed by South Western Scotland (7.4%), Eastern Scotland (6.9%) and North Eastern Scotland (6.5%). In North Eastern Scotland, there has been a significant decline in the TEA rate from 2019 (8.7%) to 2020 (6.5%), while the rest of Scotland held steady despite the pandemic. Demographics •In 2020, among the home nations, Scotland reports the highest difference in TEA rates by gender with males at 9.3% compared to a female TEA rate of 5.3% (a female to male ratio of 58%) •There is a significant difference between male and female on certain motives to start a business. For instance, on the motive "to build great wealth or a very high income", only 51% of females identified this as a motive compared to 62% of males. Similarly, there is a significant difference between male and female motives with regard "to earn a living because jobs are scarce" with 76.4% female highlighting this motive compared to 57.3% males. •Female entrepreneurial activity in the Highlands and Islands region appears to match, and ostensibly slightly outperform male TEA in the area, while there is gender disparity with higher male TEA in other regions of Scotland. •In Scotland, the TEA rate for the younger 18-24 age group is the highest (13%) within the UK home nations. •Following previous trends, the TEA rate of the white ethnic population in the Scotland in 2020 was lower than that of the non-white population, at 7.05% compared to 12.95% respectively. However, the TEA rate for the non-white ethnic group was lower than the rate in 2019 (16.8%), while it remained comparable for the white ethnic group. This suggests that amid the higher rates of entrepreneurial activity among ethnic minorities, there is greater precarity too. •In Scotland, contrary to the trend in the wider UK, both the most deprived quintile and the least deprived quintile reported similarly high TEA levels, of around 9%. The type of entrepreneurial activity engaged in, and its socioeconomic outcomes, has however not been established. Attitudes and Aspirations •In Scotland, as with the wider UK, just under half of the non-entrepreneurial population know an entrepreneur. Further, 76% indicate they have seen stories of successful entrepreneurs in the media, 80% feel successful entrepreneurs have a high status and respect in society, and about 72% believe that most people would consider starting a business a good career choice. Entrepreneurship is thus generally well regarded in Scotland. •The consideration of entrepreneurship as a good career choice appears to have increased in 2020 as compared to 2019, across Scotland and the UK amidst the pandemic. •Despite relatively higher regard for entrepreneurship in the North Eastern Scotland region, there appear to be a greater fear of failure among potential entrepreneurs. There are also gaps in confidence in own entrepreneurial skills in the area although this is an area of concern for Scotland as a whole relative to the wider UK. •Within Scotland, the perception of good start-up opportunities is seemingly lowest in the North Eastern Scotland region, a significant decline from 41% in 2019 to just under 24% in 2020. Highlands and Islands saw the biggest decline in the rates of perception of good start-up opportunities almost halving from around 50% of the adult non-entrepreneurial population to just over a quarter. In contrast, South Western Scotland did not see major changes in this regard between 2019 and 2020. •Perhaps reflecting aspects of extant policy priorities in Scotland, a slightly smaller proportion of early-stage entrepreneurs (12.6%) expect to create more than ten jobs with a growth in employment of more than 50% in the next five years. The UK average is 14.3%. In contrast, there is a greater share of established business-owners in Scotland with such growth expectations (almost 12%) compared to the UK average (around 9%) Impact of COVID-19 •Around 1 in 2 of those involved in TEA agree that there are new opportunities because of the pandemic (49.4%) in Scotland. This is lower than among established business owner-managers: only 1 in 3 would agree with this statement. •Around 2 in 3 (65.4%) of those engaged in start-up activity in Scotland indicate that the coronavirus pandemic has led to a delay in getting the business operational

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor : UK Report 2022/23

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research consortium measured rates of entrepreneurship across multiple phases in 49 economies in 2022, making it the world’s most authoritative comparative study of entrepreneurial activity in the general adult population. In the UK in 2022, 10,173 adults aged 18 to 80 participated in the GEM survey. This monitoring report for the UK compares GEM measures of entrepreneurial attitudes, activity and aspirations in the UK, France, Germany and the United States. It also compares the results across the four home nations of the UK. The results from the GEM UK Adult Population Survey (APS) and National Expert Survey (NES) for 2022 provide a unique opportunity to lift the lid on a range of issues which lie at the heart of the entrepreneurial process in the midst of the crisis. Once again 2022 provided a volatile backdrop against which to undertake the GEM APS in the UK with geo-political events creating economic uncertainty manifested in a cost of living crisis, record high inflation and falling output in an already stagnating economy. This was made worse in Q3 by home-grown political turmoil throughout the summer months as the UK’s Prime Minister was forced to resign. The result was a collapse of business confidence in an already fragile economy trying to recover from the effects of the pandemic and the UK’s exit from the EU. A perfect storm indeed in which to undertake the GEM survey

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor : UK Report 2021/22

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research consortium measured rates of entrepreneurship across multiple phases in 47 economies in 2021, making it the world’s most authoritative comparative study of entrepreneurial activity in the general adult population. In the UK in 2020, 10,044 adults aged 18 to 80 participated in the GEM survey. This monitoring report for the UK compares GEM measures of entrepreneurial attitudes, activity and aspirations in the UK, France, Germany and the United States. It also compares the results across the four home nations of the UK. The results from the GEM UK Adult Population Survey (APS) and National Expert Survey (NES) for 2021 provide a unique opportunity to lift the lid on a range of issues which lie at the heart of the entrepreneurial process in the midst of the crisis. As it turned out Q2 in the UK witnessed further spikes in the COVID-19 virus, but the UK removed all restrictions on 19th July 2021 in the middle of our fieldwork period. The specific COVID-19 questions in the surveys need to be understood against that context. Overall, there appears to be a positive perception that the pandemic has brought in new opportunities across all entrepreneurial activity stages, and positive trend in digital adoption by start-ups. Over 50% of early-stage entrepreneurs agreed that in response to the pandemic they either have adopted new technologies or enhanced plans to improve or invest in new digital technologies

Variation in plasma oxidative status and testosterone level in relation to egg-eviction effort and age of brood-parasitic common cuckoo nestlings

To avoid competition for parental care, brood-parasitic Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) nestlings evict all of the host's eggs and nestlings within a few days after hatching. Little is known about the physiological effects of eviction behavior on the cuckoo nestling's oxidative balance or about age-related variation in plasma oxidative status and testosterone level of developing birds. We examined whether the cuckoo nestling's plasma oxidative status was related to prior effort in eviction and quantified variation in the level of reactive oxygen metabolites, of nonenzymatic antioxidant capacity, and of testosterone concentration in plasma at various phases of the cuckoo's development. Levels of both reactive oxygen metabolites and antioxidant capacity were greater in older than in younger nestlings, suggesting that younger nestlings effectively counterbalance their increased production of free radicals, whereas, near fledging, levels of reactive oxygen metabolites increase despite improved antioxidant capacity. Possibly, overall energy expenditure increases with age and elevates the production of reactive oxygen species to a rate higher than what the antioxidant system could eliminate. Plasma testosterone level was the highest at nestlings' intermediate phase of growth. High levels of testosterone may be required during the period of fastest growth, and when the growth rate levels off near fledging, testosterone levels may also decline. Cuckoo chicks that evicted more host eggs from steeper nests had higher plasma levels of reactive oxygen metabolites shortly after the eviction period, suggesting that eviction is costly in terms of an increased level of oxidative stress. Para evitar la competencia por el cuidado parental, los polluelos parásitos de nidada de Cuculus canorus desalojan todos los huevos y los polluelos del hospedador a los pocos días después de la eclosión. Se sabe poco sobre los efectos fisiológicos del comportamiento de desalojo en el balance oxidativo de los polluelos de C. canorus o sobre la variación en el estatus oxidativo del plasma y el nivel de testosterona relacionado con la edad de las aves en desarrollo. Examinamos si el estatus oxidativo del plasma de los polluelos de C. canorus se relacionaba con un esfuerzo previo de desalojo y cuantificamos la variación en el nivel de metabolitos reactivos de oxígeno, la capacidad antioxidante no enzimática y la concentración de testosterona en el plasma en varias fases del desarrollo de C. canorus. Tanto los niveles de metabolitos reactivos de oxígeno como la capacidad antioxidante fueron superiores en los polluelos de mayor edad que en los más jóvenes, lo que sugiere que los polluelos de menor edad contrarrestan eficazmente el aumento de la producción de radicales libres, mientras que, cuando se apróximan al abandono del nido, los niveles de metabolitos reactivos de oxígeno aumentan a pesar de una mejora en la capacidad antioxidante. Posiblemente, el gasto total de energía se incrementa con la edad, elevándose la producción de formas reactivas de oxígeno a una tasa mayor de la que el sistema antioxidante puede eliminar. El nivel de testosterona en el plasma fue máximo en la fase intermedia del crecimiento de los polluelos. Pueden requerirse altos niveles de testosterona durante el período de mayor crecimiento y, cuando la tasa de crecimiento se estabiliza cerca del abandono del nido, los niveles de testosterona también podrián disminuir. Los polluelos de C. canorus que desalojaron más huevos del hospedador en nidos con una estructura más empinada tuvieron niveles de plasma de metabolitos reactivos de oxígeno en plasma más altos poco después del período de desalojo, sugiriendo que el desalojo es costoso en términos de un incremento en el nivel de estrés oxidativo

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor United Kingdom Monitoring Report 2020

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research consortium measured rates of entrepreneurship across multiple phases in 43 economies in 2020, making it the world's most authoritative comparative study of entrepreneurial activity in the general adult population. In the UK in 2020, 9,453 adults aged 18 to 80 participated in the GEM survey. This report mainly focuses on the working-age adults sub-sample (18 to 64 year olds), comprising 7,587 participants. This monitoring report for the UK compares GEM measures of entrepreneurial attitudes, activity and aspirations in the UK, Germany and the United States. It also compares the results across the four home nations of the UK. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the obvious disruptive impact on the lives of all of us and the huge impact on the economy it was decided that the GEM UK survey, in line with all GEM Global participating countries, should be pushed back until Q4 of 2020 rather than June through August. The UK team felt that this was preferable to not undertaking the survey at all as the pandemic raised many important questions about the ability of entrepreneurs, and indeed the wider population, to navigate their way through the crisis as the economy was effectively closed down and household incomes were under great stress for the majority of the population. The results from the GEM UK Adult Population Survey (APS) and National Expert Survey (NES) for 2020 provide a unique opportunity to lift the lid on a range of issues which lie at the heart of the entrepreneurial process in the midst of the crisis. As it turned out Q4 in the UK witnessed another second and third waves of the COVID-19 virus which led to two further lockdowns. The specific COVID-19 questions in the surveys need to be understood against that context

Myeloma: Patient accounts of their pathways to diagnosis

Background: Pathways to myeloma diagnosis can be prolonged, and are often preceded by multiple GP consultations and emergency presentation. This is the first qualitative study to examine events leading to diagnosis by asking patients about their experiences during this time. Methods: Set within a UK population-based cohort, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 myeloma patients with varying characteristics and pathways, 12 of whom invited their relatives to take part. Interviews were audio-recorded and qualitative analysis undertaken. Results: Pre-diagnostic awareness of myeloma was minimal. Disease onset was typically described as gradual, and health changes vague but progressive, with increasing loss of function. A wide range of symptoms was reported, with the similarity of these to self-limiting conditions failing to raise suspicion of myeloma among patients and GPs. Patients tended to normalise symptoms at first, although all eventually sought GP advice. GPs often initially suggested benign diagnoses, which were sometimes only revised after multiple consultations with persistent/worsening symptoms. Referrals were made to various hospital specialities, and haematology if associated with abnormal blood tests suggestive of myeloma. Once in secondary care, progress towards diagnosis was generally rapid. Conclusions: Accounts confirmed that pathways to diagnosis could be difficult, largely due to the way myeloma presents, and how symptoms are interpreted and managed by patients and GPs. Recognition of ‘normal’ health and consultation patterns for the individual could promote appropriate help-seeking and timely referral when changes occur, and may be more effective than raising awareness about the myriad of potential symptoms associated with this disease

Economic and other barriers to adopting recommendations to prevent childhood obesity: results of a focus group study with parents

Abstract Background Parents are integral to the implementation of obesity prevention and management recommendations for children. Exploration of barriers to and facilitators of parental decisions to adopt obesity prevention recommendations will inform future efforts to reduce childhood obesity. Methods We conducted 4 focus groups (2 English, 2 Spanish) among a total of 19 parents of overweight (BMI ≥ 85th percentile) children aged 5-17 years. The main discussion focused on 7 common obesity prevention recommendations: reducing television (TV) watching, removing TV from child's bedroom, increasing physically active games, participating in community or school-based athletics, walking to school, walking more in general, and eating less fast food. Parents were asked to discuss what factors would make each recommendation more difficult (barriers) or easier (facilitators) to follow. Participants were also asked about the relative importance of economic (time and dollar costs/savings) barriers and facilitators if these were not brought into the discussion unprompted. Results Parents identified many barriers but few facilitators to adopting obesity prevention recommendations for their children. Members of all groups identified economic barriers (time and dollar costs) among a variety of pertinent barriers, although the discussion of dollar costs often required prompting. Parents cited other barriers including child preference, difficulty with changing habits, lack of information, lack of transportation, difficulty with monitoring child behavior, need for assistance from family members, parity with other family members, and neighborhood walking safety. Facilitators identified included access to physical activity programs, availability of alternatives to fast food and TV which are acceptable to the child, enlisting outside support, dietary information, involving the child, setting limits, making behavior changes gradually, and parental change in shopping behaviors and own eating behaviors. Conclusions Parents identify numerous barriers to adopting obesity prevention recommendations, most notably child and family preferences and resistance to change, but also economic barriers. Intervention programs should consider the context of family priorities and how to overcome barriers and make use of relevant facilitators during program development.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78270/1/1471-2431-9-81.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78270/2/1471-2431-9-81.pdfPeer Reviewe