Analyzing the World Experience of Building Indices for Assessing the Development of Startups and the Supporting Infrastructure

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to generalize the global experience of building indices for assessing the development of startups and the supporting infrastructure. It is determined that the world experience in building indices for assessing the development of startups and the supporting infrastructure is quite diverse. The article analyzes most famous indices, among which: Global Startup Ecosystem Index, Most startup friendly countries in the world, Global Startup Ecosystem Report, Startup Index of Nations, Cities, Startup Ranking. The structure of their construction, the peculiarities of collecting and processing information for computing, and the list of countries (cities, regions) under study are considered. The countries leading in the rankings and Ukraine’s place in them are identified. Based on the summarized information on the indicators used in the rankings that characterize the conditions for the development of startups, it is concluded that there is no single approach to defining such indicators. This leads to ambiguity in assessments of the preconditions for the emergence and promotion of startups. Thus, composite indicators allow to establish ratings of countries, but based on the heterogeneity of methodologies for compiling indices and the choice of indicators that form them, they provide contradictory results and make it impossible to analyze trends and growth points in the development of startup ecosystems, and differentiate the quality of startup development. This does not allow us to unambiguously identify strategic drivers of success for the development of startups in highly developed countries and countries that are catching up in their development. Identification of these drivers justifies the directions for further research in this area.