“The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Global Report shows that the global economy nourishes entrepreneurs of all kinds. There is a lot of media attention for innovative startups, however entrepreneurial employees, family business entrepreneurs, and small-scale established entrepreneurs also play a key role in national and local economies,” said coauthor and Utrecht University Entrepreneurship Associate Professor Niels Bosma. “This year, GEM results also confirmed that entrepreneurial activity in the gig and sharing economy is substantial in all parts of the world.”

“It might not be a surprise that many businesses are family owned, particularly when we see them every day in our communities and read about large family-owned corporations in the news. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, this is the first global study of family involvement in the startup phase. The results illustrate the extent entrepreneurs rely on family members to get their businesses off the ground,” said coauthor and Babson College Entrepreneurship Professor Donna Kelley.