Are Canadian SMEs as dynamic as their American counterparts?

Based on a variety of existing data sources and a new survey of SME executives in both Canada and the U.S., a number of external factors have been identified as impediments to SME formation.

One of these factors is the state of the economy.

The survey of 800 businesses (250 employees or less) in Canada and 400 in the U.S. yielded the following number of respondents who consider market conditions to be a barrier to SME formation:

Canada: Number of respondents = 233

United States: Number of respondents = 137

Under the assumption of equality of the two proportions, what is the estimate of the joint proportion?

Use a significance level of a = 0.01.