Abstract:

Given the harsh global economic realities over recent years, small developing countries such as Jamaica have been faced with unprecedented economic challenges and the necessity to institute innovative recovery measures. The Jamaican government, in an effort to bolster the dwindling economy, created Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan, which gave critical importance to the role of entrepreneurship as a strategy for growth and development in the medium-term. The critical importance of entrepreneurship has been recognized and the Jamaican government is currently involved in generating an entrepreneurship policy for small and medium-sized Jamaican firms. However, for any plan to succeed it is critical that there be strong support and emphasis in nurturing and creating innovative firms with high-growth potential. This means that a cadre of entrepreneurs must emerge to develop the necessary conditions for innovation and entrepreneurship to exist and flourish. That is, entrepreneurial firms must engage in innovative production practices aimed at boosting productivity and aggressively introduce new ways of doing business utilizing appropriate technology. Unfortunately, Jamaica is starting from a relatively new position in terms of entrepreneurship development and contribution to the economy.

In an attempt to gauge the state of entrepreneurship in Caribbean Island and identify areas of policies that ought to be addressed in order to foster entrepreneurship, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) has been conducting its Surveys in Jamaica since 2005. This paper presents a synthesis of state of entrepreneurship development in Jamaica over the period 2005-2011. The analysis is based on data collected over this period under the auspices of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Surveys for Jamaica . The analysis focuses on three main themes, namely, the characteristics of entrepreneurs, perceptions of entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial conditions. The goal of the analysis is to determine the extent to which entrepreneurial conditions and perceptions of entrepreneurship have changed over 2005-2011, the years in which the GEM surveys were conducted for Jamaica. The primary objective of this study is to identify and discuss the policy and research implications of the findings, which could serve as a guide to entrepreneurship policy and program development in Jamaica.