New Zealand entrepreneurs: leading for excellence

Abstract

New Zealand (NZ) has been proclaimed as a leader in entrepreneurship by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) assessment. This paper links GEM findings to results from a NZ-based survey of micro-business operators and identifies factors that explain why NZ is a leader in the Entrepreneurship rating. NZ entrepreneurs are largely opportunity seeking: they want to be their own boss and are interested in the growth. They are relatively well-educated and are supported by well developed business infrastructures and support agencies. However, what directly contributes to the high propensity to set-up new businesses is not clear.entrepreneurship; entrepreneurs; New Zealand; NZ; small business; excellence; micro-business; support; leadership.