THE University of Technology (UTech) has joined a global consortium of universities and research institutes to undertake the world's largest and longest-standing study of global entrepreneurial activity, the Kingston based institution has announced.

At the local end, UTech's part in the research is being financed largely by National Commercial Bank, as major sponsor, while Digicel is also providing support.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research project examines the relationship between entrepreneurial activity and national economic growth.

The lead institutions doing the research are Babson College in Massachusetts, United States and the London Business School in the United Kingdom.

"The project aims to bring together the world's best scholars in entrepreneurship to undertake a cross-national assessment...," said UTech.

This year, some 35 countries worldwide will participate in the research, with Jamaica participating for the first time and is the only Caricom country to gain membership to the GEM consortium. Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico is also a member.

The GEM study both assesses the contribution of entrepreneurs to their economies, as well as strategies governments can adopt to boost entrepreneurism.

UTech is collecting data locally via scheduled interviews and surveys of the 14 parishes. The interviews have been completed, and the surveys got underway just under two weeks ago. The sample size is 2,000 adults.

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