French Total Entrepreneurial Activity for 2004 = 6.03%

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World Average TEA 9.6
European Average TEA 5.4

Entrepreneurship in France

France has very low rate of entrepreneurship for three major reasons. First, is their lack of entrepreneurial spirit. Furthermore, in French culture, to work as a civil servant or anonymously in a large company is still considered prestigious, unlike other countries with strong entrepreneurial spirits where more workers strive to achieve positions of power and prestige. The French government has created an unfriendly environment for entrepreneurial activity, with their high tax rate, strict regulations, and establishing a large discrepancy in social security tax requirements between wage and self-employed people. The large-scale operations of technology businesses and service industries also leave little room for small-mid sized start-ups.

In France, the unemployment rate stays high despite the high quality workforce streaming from their good education systems and the steadily increasing immigration rate. There is, however, a demand for entrepreneurship to increase employment opportunities. Recently, the French entrepreneurial environment has been changing since new measures, such as an exemption of administrative costs and lower tax rates, were introduced to stimulate small businesses. However, substantial progress has yet to be seen.
• France has one of the lowest TEA activity levels in the world.
• TEA activities development in most OECD countries is graphed by a U shape
• Entrepreneurship in France has steadily declined from 1972 to 1998.
• With a population just over 60 million, 13 million people have expressed hopes to become entrepreneurs, a recent growing trend.
• GDP with PPP of $1.66 Trillion dollars.
• France is in a transition from a modern economy with extensive government ownership & intervention to one that relies more on market mechanisms.
• France is about twice the size of Colorado.
• France boasts the widest use of stock-option plans in Europe.
• Third largest market for venture capital in the world (behind Britain and the US).

Best Bets
France 2000 GEM National Report
Academy of Entrepreneuriat
The Agence Pour la Création d’Entreprises (APCE)

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