Knowledge networks for new technology–based firms: an international comparison of local entrepreneurship promotion

This paper reports on an international comparison of three organisations established to promote new business start–ups in the USA, UK and Canada. A ‘knowledge–based’ approach is adopted to examine how networks of would–be entrepreneurs interact with networks of experienced entrepreneurs and managers, venture capitalists, technical experts, consultants, IPR lawyers and other specialists. This interaction is promoted and mediated at the local level by the three organisations at the centre of the study: the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), Texas; Connect, Edinburgh; and the Canadian Environmental Technology Advancement Corporation (CETAC–West) in Canada. These act as local network–nodes or ‘knowledge integrators’, as well as ‘incubating’ new ventures to increase the new business ‘birth rate’ in their respective regions. The comparison is based on interviews and secondary data that describe the initiation, development, operation and local impact of these organisations. Findings stress the importance of the regional context as a source of particular kinds of knowledge and expertise that may promote or inhibit new technology–based business start–ups. In particular: the scale, scope and quality of ideas and business proposals in local networks; the availability of relevant expertise and experience for ‘intelligent selection’ and for successful mentoring; the nature of rewards and incentives for all players; and the importance of local champions or figureheads, are all factors that help explain differences across the example regions. The paper combines a variety of conceptual approaches around the idea of regional knowledge networks which underpin ‘distributed innovation’. Heightened technological and market uncertainty for new technology–based firms places a premium on the ability of entrepreneurs to integrate specialist knowledge and utilise expertise from a variety of local sources. Despite differences in the scale, scope and effectiveness of their efforts we conclude that all three organisations are supporting ‘accelerated learning’ amongst entrepreneurs.     

An integrated systems approach to environmental management: A case study of IBM UK

IBM UK's environmental performance, to date, has been impressive, and much has been achieved. This case study explores how that has been achieved with an emphasis on environmental management systems. It goes on to identify what more needs to be done and highlights possible impediments to further progress.     

META‐ANALYSIS OF ECONOMICS RESEARCH REPORTING GUIDELINES

Meta‐regression analysis (MRA) can provide objective and comprehensive summaries of economics research. Their use has grown rapidly over the last few decades. To improve transparency and to raise the quality of MRA, the meta‐analysis of economics research‐network (MAER‐Net) has created the below reporting guidelines. Future meta‐analyses in economics will be expected to follow these guidelines or give valid reasons why a meta‐analysis must deviate from them.     

Export behaviour of SMEs in transition countries

Melitz’s dynamic model of export participation is the basis of our empirical specification that accounts for a wide range of internal and external factors affecting the export behaviour of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Transition Countries (TCs). Using firm-level data, our estimates highlight the particular importance of the human and technology-related factors to the export behaviour of SMEs in TCs. Other important factors for SME exporting activities are productivity-enhancing spillovers from industry—especially vertical—linkages, firm size, ownership type, type of activity, the availability of external finance, networking through business associations, and market share. In addition, significant period and country differences are identified. This paper contributes to the transition literature by filling an important gap in the understanding of the SME internationalisation process and by identifying a comprehensive set of variables to explain firms’ export behaviour in TCs.     

Women of an uncertain age: quantifying human capital accumulation in rural Ireland in the nineteenth century†

Geary and Stark find that Ireland's post‐Famine per capita GDP converged with British levels, and that this convergence was largely due to total factor productivity growth rather than mass emigration. In this article, new long‐run measurements of human capital accumulation in Ireland are devised in order to facilitate a better assessment of sources of this productivity growth, including the relative contribution of men and women. This is done by exploiting the frequency at which age data heap at round ages, widely interpreted as an indicator of a population's basic numeracy skills. Because Földvári, van Leeuwen, and van Leeuwen‐Li find that gender‐specific trends in this measure derived from census returns are biased by who is reporting and recording the age information, any computed numeracy trends are corrected using data from prison and workhouse registers, sources in which women ostensibly self‐reported their age. The findings show that rural Irish women born early in the nineteenth century had substantially lower levels of human capital than uncorrected census data would otherwise suggest. These results are large in magnitude and thus economically significant. The speed at which women converged is consistent with Geary and Stark's interpretation of Irish economic history; Ireland probably graduated to Europe's club of advanced economies thanks in part to rapid advances in female human capital.     

Distillery marketing and the visitor experience: a case study of Scottish malt whisky distilleries

Since the 1960s, visitor tours of Scottish malt whisky distilleries have been used by whisky companies to promote their products. The original concept of the visitor as passive observer has evolved to include the notion of visitor as VIP guest in three special interest attractions—connoisseur tours, whisky schools and the Classic Malts Cruise. A value‐attainment construct based on a means–end chain progression is used to illustrate the linkage between distillery attributes and the enhancement of higher values in visitors in the three attractions. Service quality is suggested as a key component of the attractions' success. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Labour-managed firms and monopsony power

Monopsony power in the labour market is shown to have important consequences for comparisons between an Illyrian labour-managed firm (LMF) and a profit-maximising capitalist firm (CF) operating in the same markets with the same technology. If the CF earns positive profits then workers earn more in the LMF than in the CF, and the level of employment in the LMF may be higher or lower than in the CF. Monopsony power is also seen to have interesting implications for models of membership contraction in LMFs.