The best cities to undertake

Among the 10 best cities in the study, six are inland,
five in the State of São Paulo

 
The third edition of the study “Endeavor Index of Entrepreneurial Cities” was launched, which aims to be the basis for cities to understand how to offer better conditions for their entrepreneurs to grow.
 
In this edition, four new indicators were included, of cost and municipal tax complexity, making cities now also assess the costs and complexity of paying taxes that the city hall collects. Another important indicator that was added is the flow of traffic, an aspect that monitors how quickly people and goods move around the city.
 
As in the previous edition, the Entrepreneurial Cities Index analyzed 32 municipalities through 60 indicators in seven pillars: Regulatory Environment, Access to Capital, Market, Innovation, Infrastructure, Human Capital and Entrepreneurial Culture. The main highlights show that all cities have points to improve and, to help with this task, initiatives were presented in Brazilian and foreign cities that are improving the local entrepreneurial environment with actions that are often simple.
 
main highlights
In the 2016 edition of the Entrepreneurial Cities Index, the city of São Paulo managed to open an advantage over Florianópolis, in second place. The capital of São Paulo obtained, for the second consecutive year, the leadership of ICE and, for the first time, all five cities in the state in the study appear among the top 10 in the general ranking. Cities in the interior of São Paulo present the most consistent results in different pillars, while having relatively lower costs than several capitals. Especially as it is the financial center of the country and has the largest consumer market, São Paulo remains extremely attractive to high-impact entrepreneurs. A reality that is increasingly present across the state.
 
Florianopolis loses its breath
 
Florianópolis led the first edition in 2014. In 2015, it appeared in second position, practically tied with São Paulo. In this third edition, the distance to the capital of São Paulo increased. Even repeating several excellent structural results of the last editions, the city has been losing some of its momentum, as in the Innovation Index, in which it is now vice-leader. Even so, it remains an example of planning and the importance of public policy makers for economic, institutional and social development, in a history that began more than 30 years ago, with an intense focus on the formation of good schools and universities.
Impacts of the crisis
 
Entrepreneurship, as expected, did not come out of the crisis unscathed. In addition to the economic recession, which made the average GDP growth in the surveyed cities slow down from 3.9% in the three-year period 2010-2012 to 2.4% between 2011 and 2013, other effects are visible. This is the case of financial resources, with a drop in per capita savings, loans and Private Equity investments, with a reduction of 23%. Several technological parks have not yet left the drawing board, and education has also been affected, with an unprecedented drop in the proportion of students in secondary education (2.2%) and the closing of vacancies in technical education throughout the country. However, there is always a dark side to the glass: exporting companies grew by 7% and, although the total number of companies also decreased, the ICT and Creative Economy sectors grew by around 14%. That is, those who managed to innovate more and seek the foreign market may be coming out of the crisis better than when it entered.
 
the inner strength
 
At ICE 2015, cities like Campinas, São José dos Campos and Joinville were already among the top ten. This year, the interior stands out even more. Campinas is the third best, and Joinville rose five positions, reaching the fourth position. São José appears in sixth, and in addition to the three, among the top 10 also appear Sorocaba, Maringá and Ribeirão Preto. Once again, the quality of life and lower costs are notable, with also advanced levels of human capital and innovation. If there is a greater detachment from leader São Paulo, it is undeniable that the interior of the South and Southeast appears increasingly stronger.
 
capitals fall
 
While the capital of São Paulo dominates the ICE for the second consecutive year, Rio de Janeiro (14th), Curitiba (15th) and Recife (18th) lost, respectively, 4, 7 and 14 positions in relation to the previous study. Entrepreneurs from Rio suffer from their poor regulatory environment, appearing in the last position of the pillar, and have complex internal conditions, with high costs and the worst urban mobility in the study. In turn, the capital of Pernambuco closed 26,000 vacancies in technical education, and municipal public purchases fell by 25%, in addition to traffic problems that placed Recife in the 29th position of the indicator.
 
In Paraná, the capital is behind Maringá, in addition to the more favorable entrepreneurial culture in the interior, Curitiba also has higher taxes — it is only ahead of Rio in the Regulatory Environment — and had the biggest drop in the offer of credit. They are capitals with large consumer markets, but they will need to do more to become centers of entrepreneurship and compete with São Paulo.
 
To download the survey, go to: https://endeavor.org.br/indice-cidades-empreendedoras-2016/.