The use of global entrepreneurship monitor data in academic research: a critical inventory and future potentials

We systematically review all 109 empirical, peer-reviewed journal articles which are based on the global entrepreneurship monitor’s (GEM) adult population survey data. GEM has become a major database for internationally comparative entrepreneurship research because it is unique and allows investigating research questions that could not have been addressed before. Our research objectives are three-fold: first, we analyse how researchers currently use GEM data in empirical academic research. To do so, we apply an analysing framework that includes data source, level of analysis, variables, methods, measurement schemes, and analytical procedures. Second, we identify best practices and problematic fields of application. Third, we develop suggestions for the future design and use of GEM data. We distinguish between implications for researchers working with existing GEM data and implications for people responsible for the collection of new GEM data, i.e., the national GEM teams and the coordination team.