The GEM survey was initially conceived with the intention of detecting the interdependence between entrepreneurship and economic development. Over time, its conceptual framework and basic definitions evolved gradually without compromising the comparability of collected information, but bringing more clarity into assumed relationships. 

The definition of entrepreneurship - in the context of understanding its role in economic growth - is as follows:

"Any attempt at new business or new venture creation, such as self-employment, a new business organization, or the expansion of an existing business, by an individual, a team of individuals, or an established business." (Reynolds et al., 1999, p. 3) 

Three questions that paved the way to the GEM survey were posed as follows (Reynolds et al., 1999, p. 3):

• Does the level of entrepreneurial activity vary between countries, and, if so, to what extent?

• Does the level of entrepreneurial activity affect a country’s rate of economic growth and prosperity?

• What makes a country entrepreneurial?
  

In order to answer those questions GEM had to depart from the conventional approach to thinking about national economic growth and designed a new conceptual framework, which has undergone a series of adjustments since its implementation in 1999.

This depicted the basic assumption that national economic growth is the result of the individuals’ (wherever they are located and regardless of whether they are self-employed or the size of businesses) personal ability to identify and seize opportunities, and that this process is taking place in the interaction with the environment.