Entrepreneurship, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the Macroeconomy

This 1999 collection examines the role of the entrepreneur in the development of the US economy.

Zoltan J. Acs (Edited by), Bo Carlsson (Edited by), Charlie Karlsson (Edited by)

9780521629256, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 3 February 2011

414 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.61 kg

Review of the hardback: 'While recent years have seen a welcome growth of research into small companies and business start-ups, acadmeics still face the problem of getting a clear mental image of what exactly is under consideration … Research in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) also faces some daunting problems of collecting and interpreting data … this collection of 13 papers is an impressive indication of the value of systematic analysis in this field … the substantive contributions [are] consistently well-written and often insightful … the key lesson that emerges is the need for caution when attempting grand generalisations … the volume is a testament to the principle that goos research should focus on interesting problems, even it the domain is complex and defies simplistic conclusions.' The Times Higher Education Supplement

This book was originally published in 1999. At this time, the US economy had recently restructured itself, moving away from an industrial economy towards one based on information, while the European Union and Japan were left to worry about rising government deficits, inflexible businesses, persistent unemployment, and workers inadequately trained for the information age. Why did the US economy move beyond its chief competitors? This collection suggests that at least some of the answers to the pattern of divergent development can be found in the role of the entrepreneur. By examining the process that entrepreneurs play in the economy, the essays in this volume make a fundamental contribution to our understanding of the macroeconomy. Each chapter clarifies the role of entrepreneur in economic theory, the function of small and medium-size enterprises that they found and build and the impact of the innovations introduced on employment, productivity, and economic growth.

Introduction and overview: 1. The linkages between entrepreneurship, SMEs and the macroeconomy Zoltan J. Acs, Bo Carlsson and Charlie Karlsson
Part I. Entrepreneurship, Industrial Dynamics and the Macroeconomy: 2. Entrepreneurship and the theory of the firm Mark Casson
3. Entrepreneurship, and economic restructuring: an evolutionary view David Audretsch
4. Business volatility: source or symptom of economic growth? Paul D. Reynolds
5. Industry structure, entrepreneurship, and the macroeconomy: a comparison of Ohio and Sweden, 1975–1995 Pontus Braunerhjelm and Bo Carlsson
Part II. Financing Entrepreneurship and SMEs: 6. Small business cessation: failure to learn by doing? Robert Cressey
7. Capital structure at inception and the short-run performance of micro firms Gavin C. Reid
8. Resource allocation, incentives, and control: the importance of venture capital in financing entrepreneurial firms Paul A. Gompers
Part III. Job Creation and Destruction: 9. Job creation and destruction by employer size and age: cyclical dynamics John Haltiwanger
10. SMEs and job creation during a recession Per Davidsson, Leif Lindmark and Christer Oloffson
11. Job flows of firms in traditional services Luuk Klop and Roy Thurik
Part IV. Innovation, Productivity and Growth: 12. Innovation in UK SMEs: causes and consequences for firm failure and acquisition Andy Cosh, Alan Hughes and Eric Wood
13. Productivity growth and firm size distribution Zoltan J. Acs, Randal Morck and Bernard Yeung.

Subject Areas: Labour economics [KCF]