Introduction to Institutions,Entrepreneurship and Firm Growth: The Case of Sweden

Small Business Economics -     

Introduction to Institutions,Entrepreneurship and Firm Growth: From Sweden to the OECD

Small Business Economics -     

Economic Policy,Institutions and Entrepreneurship

Small Business Economics - Economists have debated the issue of state intervention in the economic process in capitalist economies intensively for decades. Often, however, without considering the...     

Industry Clusters in Ohio and Sweden, 1975--1995

The purpose of the present paper is twofold. First, we formulate a general method of identifying clusters of economic activity in a country or region. The methodology is based on generally available industry data and does not start from a priori notions of geographic or technology clusters. Second, the proposed methodology is then used to identify the main clusters of economic activity in Ohio and Sweden and their evolution over the last twenty years.     

Social Entrepreneurship: The Role of Institutions

A relatively small segment of business, known as social entrepreneurship (SE), is increasingly being acknowledged as an effective source of solutions for a variety of social problems. Because society tends to view “new” solutions as “the” solution, we are concerned that SE will soon be expected to provide answers to our most pressing social ills. In this paper we call into question the ability of SE, by itself, to provide solutions on a scope necessary to address large-scale social issues. SE cannot reasonably be expected to solve social problems on a large scale for a variety of reasons. The first we label the organizational legitimacy argument. This argument leads to our second argument, the isomorphism argument. We also advance three other claims, the moral, political, and structural arguments. After making our arguments, we explore ways in which SE, in concert with other social institutions, can effectively address social ills. We also present two examples of successful ventures in which SEs partnered with governments and other institutions.     

Social Entrepreneurship: The Role of Institutions

A relatively small segment of business, known as social entrepreneurship (SE), is increasingly being acknowledged as an effective source of solutions for a variety of social problems. Because society tends to view “new” solutions as “the” solution, we are concerned that SE will soon be expected to provide answers to our most pressing social ills. In this paper we call into question the ability of SE, by itself, to provide solutions on a scope necessary to address large-scale social issues. SE cannot reasonably be expected to solve social problems on a large scale for a variety of reasons. The first we label the organizational legitimacy argument. This argument leads to our second argument, the isomorphism argument. We also advance three other claims, the moral, political, and structural arguments. After making our arguments, we explore ways in which SE, in concert with other social institutions, can effectively address social ills. We also present two examples of successful ventures in which SEs partnered with governments and other institutions.     

Differing patterns of industrial dynamics: New Zealand,Ohio, and Sweden, 1978–1994

New Zealand, Ohio, and Sweden have experienced sharply divergent macroeconomic developments since the early 1970s. During the 1980s, New Zealand went from being the most heavily regulated and protectionist OECD country to one of the least regulated and most open economies in the world. Ohio suffered severe economic downturns when its major industries (steel, automobiles, and machinery) went through devastating crises. Since then, a major restructuring has taken place, and manufacturing output, exports, and employment have generally grown faster than in the United States as a whole. Sweden had an outstanding industrial growth record for several decades until the mid-1970s but then suffered economic setbacks from which it has not yet fully recovered. Industrial output declined for several years, resumed growth in the early 1980s but then stagnated again in the early 1990s.The object of this paper is to study the microeconomic responses to these differences in the macroeconomic environment. While manufacturing employment declined by more than 20 percent in each country, the number of establishments in manufacturing stayed constant in Sweden while it declined by 9 percent in Ohio and more than doubled in New Zealand.While there are certainly structural differences in the composition of the manufacturing sector in the three economies, these differences explain only a small portion of the differences in development patterns. Only a handful of 3-digit ISIC industries grew in terms of employment in each country between 1978 and 1993, but the growth industries were not the same across countries, and there were substantial differences in the growth patterns within these industries.     

Entrepreneurship, Economic Growth and Public Policy

This paper is an introduction to the second Global Entrepreneurship Research Conference. The conference focused on developing a better understanding of the relationships among entrepreneurship, economic growth and public policy, and variations according to the stage of economic development. The papers in this special issue conduct analysis with GEM micro-and-macro data, and offer several important policy recommendations. First, middle-income countries should focus on increasing human capital, upgrading technology availability and promoting enterprise development. It is important to start enterprise development policies early because the main drivers are perceptual variables that are difficult to change in the short run. Second, for developed economies, reducing entry regulations, in most cases, will not result in more high-potential startups. Both labor market reform and deregulation of financial markets may be needed to support growth of high-performance ventures.      

Entrepreneurship,Innovation and Economic Growth: Evidence from GEM data

Studies on the impact of technological innovation on growth have been largely mute on the role ofnew firm formation. Using cross-sectional data on the 37 countries participating in GEM 2002, this paper uses an augmented Cobb–Douglas production to explore firm formation and technological innovation as separate determinants of growth. One area of interest is the contrast between different types of entrepreneurial activities as measured using GEM Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) rates – high growth potential TEA, necessity TEA, opportunity TEA and overall TEA. Of the four types of entrepreneurship, only high growth potential entrepreneurship is found to have a significant impact on economic growth. This finding is consistent with extant findings in the literature that it is fast growing new firms, not new firms in general, that accounted for most of the new job creation by small and medium enterprises in advanced countries.     

External Debts,Institutions and Growth in SSA

The study investigates the impact of institutional quality on the external debt–growth nexus in SSA. Data from 36 SSA economies over the 1996–2013 periods were used. The results from the IV-System GMM imply that institutional quality has robust effects on the external debt–growth nexus. Thus, the impact of external debt on growth is through host nation’s institutional quality. However, the mediating effect of institutional quality on this nexus is up to a point. When a country is on the wrong side of the debt-laffer curve, external debt becomes irrelevant; and institutional quality can no longer help.     

Entrepreneurship and Growth: Creative and Equilibrating Events

This paper investigates the constraints on the growth of creative and equilibrating entrepreneurial events. The empirical material is drawn from the Greek economy. It was observed that the two different levels of entrepreneurial events involve constraints of different kinds. This paper analyses those constraints and their significance for entrepreneurial growth.     

Entrepreneurship Education and Training in Higher Educational Institutions in Ghana

This study aims to evaluate entrepreneurship education and training in higher educational institutions in Ghana. The purpose is to come out with an innovative approach to teaching entrepreneurship. The mixed method research design was used to collect and analyze data from five out of ten polytechnics selected randomly. Chi-square analysis was used to explore the variables. The study revealed a continual usage of the traditional passive and the incremental teaching approach to entrepreneurship. This approach was observed to affect students’ ability to practically apply their knowledge and skills acquired through education and training. It is recommended that attention should be drawn to the globalized art of science of teaching and learning of entrepreneurship. To promote a strong educational system in teaching and learning of entrepreneurship, constant innovation should be encouraged. This would assist in producing competent graduates with employability skills.     

Linking Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth

In the 1980s stagflation and high unemployment caused a renewed interest in supply side economics and in factors determining economic growth. Simultaneously, the 1980s and 1990s have seen a reevaluation of the role of small firms and a renewed attention for entrepreneurship. The goal of this survey is to synthesize disparate strands of literature to link entrepreneurship to economic growth. This will be done by investigating the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth using elements of various fields: historical views on entrepreneurship, macro-economic growth theory, industrial economics (Porter's competitive advantage of nations), evolutionary economics, history of economic growth (rise and fall of nations) and the management literature on large corporate organizations. Understanding the role of entrepreneurship in the process of economic growth requires the decomposition of the concept of entrepreneurship. A first part of our synthesis is to contribute to the understanding of the dimensions involved, while paying attention to the level of analysis (individual, firm and aggregate level). A second part is to gain insight in the causal links between these entrepreneurial dimensions and economic growth. A third part is to make suggestions for future empirical research into the relationship between (dimensions of) entrepreneurship and economic growth.     

Entrepreneurship,Firm Growth and Regional Development in the New Economic Geography: Introduction

Small Business Economics -     

The Survival and Growth of New Establishments in Sweden, 1987-1995

The aim of the study is to examine the survival of new establishments and to identify factors affecting their survival probability and their employment growth.This study uses a unique data set on all new establishments that were created in Sweden 1987 and 1988, with the exception of the construction industry. The results show among others that:(i) new establishments face a high risk of closing down, (ii) the probability of establishment survival increases with the age and size of the establishment,(iii) variables that are assumed to measure access to resources (being a part of a multi-unit firm,and being new due to merger or dispersal) have a positive effect on survival, (iv) the number of employees at the start- up year has a negative effect on the employment growth, and (v) demographic and educational factors are important in explaining survival and growth.     

基于高校创新创业教育实践的路径研究

我国高等学校创新创业教育总体水平相对落后,处于发展的初级阶段,存在着创新创业意识匮乏、师资力量薄弱、课程体系不衔接、创新创业支持服务平台不完善等问题。高等学校应通过树立创新创业意识、加强创新创业师资队伍建设、完善创新创业课程体系、搭建创新创业支持服务平台等路径,塑造与培养高校大学生创新思维与创业能力,解决高校毕业生"创业难"、"就业难"与"毕业即失业"等难题。     

Exploiting Entrepreneurial Opportunities: The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Growth

Knowledge is recognized as an important ingredient for economic growth in addition to physical capital and labor. While transforming knowledge into products and processes it is exploited commercially. Nevertheless, the existing knowledge stock and the absorptive capacity of actors like employees at firms and researchers at universities and research institutions are conditional for the ability to produce, identify, and exploit knowledge. Since incumbent firms do not exploit new knowledge to the full extent, realized entrepreneurial opportunities may arise. This paper tests the hypothesis whether or not entrepreneurship is an important vehicle for knowledge flows and economic growth. The empirical results indicate that an increase in innovative start-up activity is more effective than an increase in general entrepreneurship for economic growth.      

On the Growth of Micro and Small Firms: Evidence from Sweden

The relationship between the size, age and growth rate of firms is examined for a large sample of micro and small firms in Sweden. These firms have between 1–100 employees and operate in a geographically concentrated area. Micro and small firms are dominant in the industrial structure and thus their growth patterns are crucial to the economic growth of the region. The period of study is of particular interest because it allows us to evaluate the effects of various regional development policy programs on the growth and formation of firms. The data is an unbalanced panel covering the period 1993–1998. We allow for the exit and entry of firms. The growth rate is defined in terms of the number of employees, sales and assets. In the estimation of the growth rate we control for various factors characterizing the sample firms, their capital structure, performance, human capital, and local labor market conditions. Our results show that the relationship between the growth, size and age of firms is very sensitive with respect to the method of estimation, functional form and definition of growth and size.