Subscribe to our newsletter:
Publications on Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Ongoing Research
Swiss International Entrepreneurship Survey (SIES) 2013
SIES 2013Thank you for helping us by taking between 20 and 40 minutes of your time to complete this survey. The study will help us understand how small and medium-sized Swiss companies internationalize themselves, as well as identify the success factors involved. We would be happy to send you the results of our study. For details on how to receive the results, please see the last page of the questionnaire or the online survey.Survey SIES 2013 DE / EN / FR / IT
Completed Research
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Switzerland (GEM) 2012
Rico J. Baldegger, Andreas A. Brülhart, Siegfried Alberton, Fredrik Hacklin24. May 2013The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report 2012 on Switzerland illustrates national differences in entrepreneurial attitudes, activity, and aspirations between economies, revealing the factors that determine the nature and level of national entrepreneurial activity, and identifying policy implications for enhancing entrepreneurship in Switzerland. The GEM data not only complement already existing indicators of competitiveness and innovation, but also allow – as in 2011 – the creation of a new aggregate index, the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI). In the 2012 census, perceived opportunities to start a business were lower in Switzerland than in previous years. Nonetheless, Switzerland ranks above the average of innovation-based countries. What is particularly noticeable is the fact that Fear of Failure has clearly lessened in the past few years, and in 2012 was as low as in the USA. Switzerland has even joined the USA in leading all innovation-based economies.
GEM - 2012 Report on Switzerland (1.6 MB)
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2012 Global Report
Siri Roland Xavier, Donna Kelley, Jacqui Kew, Mike Herrington, Arne Vorderwülbecke22. January 2013The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2012 Global Report estimates that nearly half of the world’s entrepreneurs are between the ages of 25 and 44. The survey also reports that, in all geographic regions surveyed, 25-34 year olds showed the highest rates of entrepreneurial activity.
GEM Global Report (2012) (2.4 MB)
Global Report Press release (372 KB)
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Switzerland (GEM) 2011
Rico Baldegger, Siegfried Alberton, Fredrik Hacklin, Andreas Brülhart, A. Huber, O. Saglam26. June 2012The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is an international research project which was initiated in 1997 by London Business School (UK) and Babson College (USA). It examines start-up activities in more than 50 countries worldwide. Since 2009 HEG Fribourg and its Institute for Entrepreneurship and SMEs has been responsible for the execution of the national entrepreneurship monitor in Switzerland. In 2011 HEG Fribourg realized this national research project for the first time in collaboration with ETH Zurich and SUPSI Manno. The result of the conjoint endeavors, namely the Swiss National Report 2011, clearly portrays the differences among innovation-driven economies in terms of entrepreneurial attitude, activity and aspiration. Besides, the Swiss National Report 2011 sheds light on the determining factors of entrepreneurship in Switzerland and inherent policy implications. The GEM data complements existing indicators about competitiveness and innovation and allows the creation of a new aggregate index, the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEDI).
GEM - 2011 Report on Switzerland (4.1 MB)
GEM 2012 Press Release (French) (156 KB)
GEM 2012 Press Release (German) (157 KB)
A country in founding fever (114 KB)
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2011
Rico Baldegger7. April 2012In 2011, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) conducted its 13th annual survey of the rate and profile of entrepreneurial activity around the globe. GEM interviewed over 140,000 adults (18–64 years of age) in 54 economies, spanning diverse geographies and a range of development levels. Based on this survey, GEM estimated that 388 million entrepreneurs were actively engaged in starting and running new businesses in 2011.
GEM Global Report (2011) (585 KB)
Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS) 2011
Rico Baldegger, Ana-Maria Pavalache11. October 2011Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students’ Survey (GUESSS) is an international research project that investigates the entrepreneurial intentions of students’ worldwide and the effectiveness of university entrepreneurship programs with national/international benchmarking. The project was initiated in 2003 by the Swiss Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (KMU-HSG) at the University of St. Gallen and from 2006, the Institute for Entrepreneurship and SMEs at the HEG Fribourg joined the project as partner for Western Switzerland. The main goals are to identify hurdles and pitfalls when pursuing an entrepreneurial career, enable participating countries to reflect on their students' entrepreneurial spirit, make recommendations for practice and politics and make significant contributions to the scientific community. Data is gathered using an on-line survey developed by the project management with input from renowned US researchers in the field. The survey is conducted every two years. The 2011 project brings together 27 countries and more than 200 universities. The 2011 project brings together 26 different countries, adressing more than 1 Million students from almost 500 Universities across the world.
GUESSS 2011 (German) (1.5 MB)
GUESSS 2011 INT (English) (1.5 MB)
GUESSS 2011 (French) (1.5 MB)
GUESSS 2008 (French) (1.3 MB)
Press release GUESSS 2008 (L'AGEFI) (1.1 MB)
Press release GUESSS 2008 (Le Temps) (1.7 MB)
Entrepreneurship in Switzerland – Visions of the leading parties
Baldegger, R. J., Giunta, G.12. May 2011In spring 2011, the students of the Master program in Business Administration (MScBA), Major Entrepreneurship, interviewed the leaders of the four major governing parties on the conditions for Entrepreneurship in Switzerland. The scientific basis for this survey was the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), carried out in 2009 by the Institute for Entrepreneurship & SME in Fribourg.
HEG - RelevePM (French) (1.8 MB)
HEG - RelevePM (German) (1.8 MB)
_Page_1.jpg)
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2010
Rico Baldegger, Andreas Brülhart, Patrick Schüffel , Thomas Straub5. April 2011The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is an international research project that was initiated in 1997 by the London Business School (UK) and Babson College (USA). It examines start-up activities in 60 countries worldwide. HEG Fribourg and its Institute for Entrepreneurship and SMEs has been responsible for the execution of GEM in Switzerland since 2009. Besides a telephone survey which was carried out by the Society of Applied Social Research in Bern, many well recognized national experts (36) were interviewed with regard to the situation of entrepreneurship: for example, Doris Albisser (CEO, CLS Communication AG, Zurich), Konrad Hummler (Managing Partner, Wegelin & Co. Private Bankers, St.Gallen), Patrick Aebischer (Professor and President EPFL, Lausanne), Alain Nicod (Managing Partner, venture incubator, Zug), Hansueli Loosli (Chairman, Executive Board, Coop, Basel) and Stephane Garelli (Professor, International Business School, Lausanne).
GEM 2010 (French) (1.4 MB)
GEM 2010 (German) (1.3 MB)
GEM National Summary (27 KB)
GEM Experts Pool (2010) (78 KB)
GEM Experts Pool (2009) (78 KB)
Press release (Handelszeitung) (174 KB)
Swiss International Entrepreneurship Survey (SIES) 2010
Rico Baldegger, Hans Baumgartner, Charly Suter, Juan Macavio, Andreas Hungerbühler22. March 2011The project “Swiss International Entrepreneurship Survey (SIES) 2010” was realized by the School of Business Administration Fribourg in collaboration with Dun&Bradstreet and Credit Suisse and analyzed the internationalization process of Swiss SMEs. In total 625 SMEs from all over Switzerland took part in the survey. Results SIES 2010. The survey revealed a strong relation between the degree of internationalization and the size of a company, which means that an increasing company size correlates positively with intensified international activities. Furthermore, the research findings reveal that SMEs in smaller countries show a higher degree of internationalization, mainly due to a limited domestic market. Key target markets for Swiss SMEs abroad are mainly located within Europe (75%), but also in the far-East with China (27%). However particularly strong cooperation exists between the USA, Germany and China, who act as key partners of Swiss SMEs. Internationalization is further related to a strong increase in sales, job creation, the frequent use of e-commerce and an above average innovation capacity.
SIES_EN.pdf (707 KB)
SIES_DE.pdf (669 KB)
SIES_FR.pdf (1.5 MB)
SIES_IT.pdf (760 KB)
Regional Entrepreneurship. An Interdisciplinary Approach.
Rico Baldegger, Pierre-André Julien1. January 2011The textbook is based on the application of crime case metaphors and treats the interdependencies of proactive enterprises and their economic dynamics in a region. The reciprocity between economically well-developed regions and successful enterprises, as well as their critical success factors are dealt with in more detail in the respective textbook. The fact that the blossoming of small start-ups is dependent on regional circumstances receives special attention in this textbook. A further key focus is placed on the so-called knowledge economy and regional dynamics together with the role of information, networks and innovation. Through numerous examples and based on the application of criminal case metaphors, this textbook is notably aimed at students and academics for business-management courses with a special interest in entrepreneurship and its inherent dynamics. The book is available in German only.
_Page_01.jpg)
Relève PME
Frank Halter, Rico Baldegger1. December 2009The project was carried out by the Center for Family Business (CFB-HSG St. Gallen) in collaboration with the Institute for Entrepreneurship and SME (HEG Fribourg) and investigated the succession of Small & Medium Enterprises in the French and Italian speaking part of Switzerland. It was edited by Relève PME.
Relève PME 2009 (French) (2.2 MB)
Press release Relève PME 2009 (38 KB)
Press release Relève PME 2011 (280 KB)
Publications
Other Publications
Frank Halter, Georges A. Cavalier, Rico Baldegger, Mohamed Touali, Stefano Borzillo, Thomas Schrettle, Thomas Straub, Urs Fueglistaller, and others1. November 2009Non-exhaustive list of projects published by the Institute for Entrepreneurship & SME.
Business idea: Try and early failure (192 KB)
Press Release
...
PressPress release
