A crucial ecosystem for supporting the creation of new businesses

Universitas Mercatorum has chosen to support the GEM survey in the belief that analysing a country’s entrepreneurial dynamics means examining an indicator which, as well as revealing the dynamism of our society, also offers a potential guarantee of economic diversity and democracy; for when entrepreneurial dynamism declines, a country’s capacity for innovation is also reduced and, above all, its social mobility diminishes – if we consider an entrepreneurial career as a means of social advancement.

Although the entrepreneurial activation rate of 11 per cent is the highest figure recorded since 2007, Italia remains in 30th place out of 48 economies worldwide, whilst new registrations in the Business Register have fallen from over 400,000 in 2010 to around 325,000 over the last two years. Almost 80 per cent of this decline in entrepreneurial activity is not due to a falling population, but rather to a reduced propensity to start a business. The GEM report points to a genuine, yet fragile, revival. The key policy issue highlighted by the report is the entrepreneurial gap, defined as the disparity between intention and action. In 2025, nearly one in five adults say they want to start a business, but only 11 per cent actually take the first steps. Barely 35 per cent of adults surveyed see good opportunities in the next six months, and the fear of failure affects around half the population. Analysis carried out using GEM data clearly shows that the intention to set up a business translates into real action if people feel they possess the necessary skills to do so, the regulations are understandable and credit is accessible. These factors are sufficient to launch a business, but for it to survive and grow, it is necessary to establish relationships based on trust with the various players and elements within the ecosystem.

In our research into entrepreneurship, we always adopt an ecosystemic approach: businesses do not emerge in a vacuum. They emerge within contexts that may either encourage or discourage initiative. And, at the same time, the businesses that emerge and grow transform the ecosystem, either strengthening or weakening it. Trust in relationships within the ecosystem thus becomes a genuine economic infrastructure, as well as one of the few antidotes in this period of multiple crises. The gaps highlighted in the report, relating to youth entrepreneurship and female entrepreneurship, reveal where this infrastructure is weakest. The rate of youth entrepreneurship stands at just over 10 per cent, which is low by international standards. The rate for women is just over 8 per cent, compared with around 13 per cent for men; women perceive fewer opportunities, consider themselves less capable of starting a business and are more fearful of failure. Given equal levels of talent and human capital, women have less access to external capital and weaker networks with key players in the ecosystem. In other words, women can acquire entrepreneurial resources, but these resources remain less readily convertible into entrepreneurial action due to constraints that are not fully recognised: the quality of networks, access to finance, the social legitimacy of women as entrepreneurs, and living conditions that often make it difficult to balance work and family life.

An analysis of the characteristics of start-ups reveals that the majority of new ventures do not plan to employ more than five staff, the proportion of new businesses with overseas customers stands at around 30–40 per cent, and their strategies remain cautious. Among the main external barriers, in addition to the traditional difficulties in accessing finance, there is also a bureaucratic environment that remains complex and high tax burdens, which often limit the capacity for investment and recruitment.

The expert survey makes the cost of contextual variables explicit and measurable: across all the enabling factors for entrepreneurship measured by the GEM, Italy remains below the average for advanced economies: the widest gaps relate to tax and bureaucratic aspects, public policy support and access to capital. Entrepreneurial training is the weakest area, and technology transfer never reaches the threshold for a favourable environment. On artificial intelligence, Italia scores below the GEM average in all 14 areas examined. Yet there are levers emerging on which to build a more sustainable and inclusive future. Registrations in high-tech sectors are growing; around 60 per cent of nascent entrepreneurs plan to increase their use of digital technology in sales, and almost 80 per cent systematically consider social and environmental impacts in their future decisions.