"Innovation and entrepreneurship are ubiquitous today, both as fields of study and as starting points for conversations among experts in government and economic development. But while these areas on continue to attract public and private investments, many measurements of their resulting economic growth-including productivity growth and business dynamism-have remained modest. Why this difference? Because not all business sectors are the same, and the transformative gains of some industries have been offset by stagnation or contraction in others. Accordingly, a nuanced understanding of the economy requires a nuanced understanding of where innovation and entrepreneurship occur and where they matter. Answering these questions allows for strategic public investment and the infrastructure for economic growth.The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth, the latest entry in the NBER conference series, seeks to codify these answers. The editors leverage industry studies to identify specific examples of productivity improvements enabled by innovation and entrepreneurship, including those from new production technologies, increased competition, new organizational forms, and other means. Taken together, the volume illuminates whether the contribution of innovation and entrepreneurship to economic growth is likely to be concentrated, be it selected sectors or more broadly"--

The spillovers in knowledge among largely college-educated workers were among the key reasons for the impressive degree of economic growth and spread of entrepreneurship in the United States during the 1990s. Prior 'industrial policies' in the 1970s and 1980s did not advance growth because these were based on outmoded large manufacturing models. Zoltan Acs and Catherine Armington use a knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship to explain new firm formation rates in regional economies during the 1990s period and beyond. The fastest-growing regions are those that have the highest rates of new firm formation, and which are not dominated by large businesses. The authors of this text also find support for the thesis that knowledge spillovers move across industries and are not confined within a single industry. As a result, they suggest, regional policies to encourage and sustain growth should focus on entrepreneurship among other factors.

By serving as a conduit for knowledge spillovers, entrepreneurship is the missing link between investments in new knowledge and economic growth. The knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship provides not just an explanation of why entrepreneurship has become more prevalent as the factor of knowledge has emerged as a crucial source for comparative advantage, but also why entrepreneurship plays a vital role in generating economic growth. Entrepreneurship is an important mechanism permeating the knowledge filter to facilitate the spill over of knowledge and ultimately generate economic growth.

This book examines the interrelations between entrepreneurship, industrial location and economic growth. Thus, it covers a wide range of topics, including: the economic impact of entrepreneurship; industry dynamics; growth and survival of firms; firm location and globalisation patterns; and agglomeration and growth. The chapters in the book demonstrate the need to adopt a broad perspective that combines insights from different strands of literature if we are to better understand these complex economic phenomena. In addition, the original empirical evidence from a range of different countries provides a sound foundation for developing appropriate guidance for policymakers. The contributions in this book will appeal to practitioners and policymakers interested in entrepreneurship, industrial location and industry dynamics. It will also be of interest to economic geographers, environmental scientists and local planners.

This book provides the first unifying treatment of the range of economic reasons for the clustering of firms and households. Its goal is to explain further the trade-off between various forms of increasing returns and different types of mobility costs. Although referring to agglomeration as a generic term is convenient, it should be noted that the concept of economic agglomeration refers to distinct real world situations. The main focus of the treatment is on cities, but it also explores the formation of agglomerations, such as commercial districts within cities, industrial clusters at the regional level, and the existence of imbalance between regions. The book is rooted within the realm of modern economics and borrows concepts from geography and regional science, which makes it accessible to a broad audience formed by economists, geographers, regional planners, and other scientists. It may be used in coursework for graduate students and upper-level undergraduates.

The analysis of different national cases (including, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, the Netherlands, and the United States) puts forward that the relationship between entrepreneurship and growth (via innovation) is shaped by the context of country-specific institutions and industries, thereby providing hints for industrial and innovation policy.

While characteristically "Austrian" economic themes are clearly relevant to the business firm, Austrian economists have said little about management, organization and strategy. The 12 chapters in this work seek to advance the understanding of these issues by drawing on Austrian ideas.