This research aims to fundamentally improve our understanding of entrepreneurship in Australia, by studying factors that initiate, hinder and facilitate the process of emergence of new economic activities and organisations. It does so by employing and extending a research paradigm for the study of firms that are in the process of being established (nascent firms)' and firms that have recently been established (young firms). This methodology, initially developed and employed in the US Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED), has been adapted to study a large sample of on-going Australian business start-ups and recently created Australian businesses for the first time. The key ideas behind this type of empirical study are the following: First, the research aims to identify a statistically representative sample of on-going venture start-up efforts. Second, these start-up efforts are subsequently followed over time through repeated waves of data collection so that insights can be gained into the process issues and determinant outcomes.**Grantor:Australian Research Council (ARC)**External Ref:DP0666616