August 2, 2018
The main contribution of GEM to policy in Brazil has been to stimulate the debate on the issue of entrepreneurship in the country and on the creation of employment and income distribution in society. SEBRAE (Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas), the main Brazilian institution to support and foster entrepreneurs and small businesses, has an internal unit called the Strategic Management Unit (UGE) which conducts a large number of research studies. GEM is one of their leading studies.
GEM data is used by several SEBRAE units as well as various government ministries including the Ministry of Planning and Economics and the Special Secretariat for Micro and Small Businesses. It is difficult to identify the specific impact that GEM has had on policy but certain indicators such as opportunity/necessity, the participation of women, youth and seniors and TEA are often quoted. It can be said that the information provided by GEM has been used by SEBRAE that in turn contributes to public policy. For example, this includes support for the approval of the General Law on Micro and Small Enterprises, the creation of the Individual Micro Entrepreneur (MEI) and the extensions of the limits of the Super Simple, an important SME tax framework legislation (complementary Law no. 155 of 2016) and the recent “renegotiation” of the SME debt campaign.
Stakeholders who use GEM
SEBRAE is the major stakeholder and the results of GEM are made available to all their managers. Leading developers of services and products use the results to develop new products and to improve existing ones. For example, because of the strong interest in young people, SEBRAE offers several products to the public such as the "Entrepreneurship University Challenge” a national competition operating through a virtual platform to stimulate entrepreneurial attitudes amongst young people. In addition, the SEBRAE National Entrepreneurship Education Program aims to expand, promote and disseminate entrepreneurial education at all levels of education.
This is a shortened version of a chapter that first appeared in the publication The Influence of GEM on Policy 2017/18.
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