Market Wire:
The United States is more successful than Canada at encouraging entrepreneurs and the creation of new businesses, according to a new study released today by independent research organization The Fraser Institute.
Nevada had the highest net small business creation rate at 5.2%, followed by Florida (4.7%) and Utah (4.5%). They are followed in order by Idaho, Montana, Virginia, Georgia, Missouri, Arizona, and Delaware, which shows a diverse geographic pattern of entrepreneurial success across the United States.
Alberta is the highest ranked Canadian province (11th) with a net business creation rate of 2.4%. Ontario is the next highest Canadian province at 21st with a net business creation rate of 1.9% followed by British Columbia at 24th overall with a rate of 1.7%.
Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island occupy the bottom 5 spots among the 60 jurisdictions. In fact, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island recorded negative net business creation rates - meaning they actually lost businesses over the time period studied.
‘Small and entrepreneurial businesses are key to creating new jobs, innovation and ultimately economic prosperity. Consequently, states or provinces with a high level of new business creation are going to have more dynamic and faster growing economies,’ said Jason Clemens, Resident Scholar with The Fraser Institute and co-author of Measuring Business Creation in Canada and the United States.
The peer-reviewed study finds that most new business creation occurs in the smallest firms, those with less than 10 employees. In 2004 (the most recent year for which detailed data is available), 97.6% of business creation (start-ups) and 95.9% of net business creation (starts-ups minus closures) in Canada occurred in firms with less than 10 employees.
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