BUSINESS CREATION IN PORTUGAL AND SPAIN IN THE PERIOD 2000-2007: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BASED ON THE WORLD BANK GROUP ENTREPRENEURSHIP SURVEY (WBGES)

Abstract

The World Bank Group Entrepreneurship Survey (WBGES 2008) comprehends an extensive firm registry database of around one hundred countries. Based on this data source, we explore the trajectories of business creation from 2000 to 2007, among two both geographically and economically linked countries, Portugal and Spain, and of these as compared to the European Union and the OECD, as well as other countries and information sources. The WBGES evidence is supportive of conclusions of previous studies, which pointed to relatively higher business creation rates in Portugal. Moreover, the data shows that Portugal has a higher volatility in overall firm registers and that Spain has a considerable business density. Finally, we observe that Portugal and Spain show higher business densities than the European Union and the OCDE´s average, but have lower creation rates ofnew business, pointing to a lower business dynamics in these two Iberian countries