What are some of the intervening, extraneous, and moderating variables that the study
attempted to control with its 10-nation design?
Answers
Explanation:
business start-up rate was found to have a high correlation with people's perceivedopportunities (0.88) and with the GEM Opportunity Perception Index (0.79)--whichfactors in perception of positive opportunity in a person's country to start a business, thecapacity (skills and motivation) to pursue the opportunities, the level of respect forentrepreneurial efforts by others in the society, and the level of resentment against thosewho do well in an entrepreneurial venture).We could use this question to discuss factors not mentioned in the GEM ConceptualModel that might contribute to business/job formation and ultimately to higher GDP. Onefactor that usually comes up in such a discussion is creativity of ideas. This can generate alively discussion about how the study could have measured for 'creativity'. Students mightalso mention demographic characteristics of the country, such as median age. Using BillGates as a model, you can expect many students to believe in the notion thatentrepreneurial ventures are generally started by young adults. They might point out afteryou show the graphs below that Japan has a median age of almost 40 years compared to34.3 for the U.S. Also, the percentage of the population under the age of 15 in the US is22%, compared with Japan at only 15%. Additionally, students may raise the issue ofeconomic stability. Given the unprecedented economic growth experienced in the U.S. inthe latter part of the 20thcentury, they may want to use economic stability as a moderatingvariable.SOURCE: GEM 1999 UK Executive Report