Entrepreneurship and Economic Development

Abstract

Promoting private sector development and entrepreneurship in particular, has become a defining feature of development policy in recent years. At a time when global development is being jeopardized by man-made and natural disasters, including financial crises and climate change, the need to integrate socially beneficial innovation and the pursuit of profit with the role of state and non-state actors, is becoming more urgent than ever. This volume brings together internationally leading scholars to explore the nature of economic development and its relationship with the various concepts of entrepreneurship. It identifies the concerns and issues in measuring the impact of entrepreneurship, evaluates and presents empirical evidence on the role of entrepreneurship and economic development, and dissects the evolving relationship between the state and entrepreneurs. The chapters emphasise the importance of institutions for understanding how entrepreneurs can play their innovative, Schumpeterian role to the greatest benefit to society, and that such institutional-entrepreneurial interactions – even beyond the traditional theatre of the nation state and the national economy – remains a major challenge. This book is indispensable reading for all interested in development economics, entrepreneurship and business management. This book is endorsed by professor Roger Stough (George Mason University, USA), who writes that it is “the single best and most informative work on the topic of entrepreneurship and economic development in print... a must read.