U.S. entrepreneurial activity fell from 12.4 percent of the total workforce in 2005 to 9.6 percent in 2007, according to a joint study by Babson and Baruch Colleges.
Despite the decline, the nation’s rate of entrepreneurship was 50 percent higher than in other comparable countries, the study reported.
While more businesses were founded in the United States than in other countries last year, many aren’t expected to grow or create new jobs over the next five years.
Opportunity remained the biggest motivator for starting a business, though the percentage of entrepreneurs who launched a start-up out of necessity rose from 12.1 percent in 2005 to 15.6 percent in 2007, the study found.
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