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Abstract This paper provides insights from the extant literature on institutional entrepreneurship in emerging fields which could enable us to understand how the innovative idea of 'energy community' arose, became new practices, and has been institutionalized over time. In August 2008, the people of St. Peter, a Black Forest rural town in Germany, decided to build their own energy co-operative for the operation of the biomass District Heating Plant (DHP). The key driving forces for this comprised a wide range of sustainability-related discourses, such as climate protection, energy supply security, and regional economic development. The biomass DHP, as an environmentally-friendly heating system, has become a taken-for-granted practice and has been presented as an 'inspirational' example to other communities in the region. The main contribution of this study is to develop and use a multi-level analytical framework to elucidate the process of legitimation and sense-making of the notion of the energy community St. Peter. The key conclusions are that institutional entrepreneurs are dispersed across space, social status, sector, and governance levels; their agency is distributed among multiple levels of action and multiple stages of development; and they use a range of social skills to justify their action for institutional change. Therefore, community-based initiatives should draw on multiple discourses that address both individual interests (stable prices and supply security) and collective concerns (environmental protection). In this way, wide public support for transforming existing energy practices into more renewable ones can be achieved. Highlights • This paper provides insights from the literature on institutional entrepreneurship in emerging fields. • It develops and uses a multi-level framework to elucidate the process of legitimation and sense-making of energy practices. • The key findings are that the agency is distributed among multiple levels of action and multiple stages of development. • Energy communities draw on multiple discourses to address both individual and collective concerns of energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Entrepreneurship is not only seen as an important factor for economic growth and welfare but also as a vehicle of societal development and change, both at the regional, national and international level. Thus, entrepreneurship education at schools plays an increasingly important role, linking policy, businesses, education and science. However, research on entrepreneurship education programmes, especially on mini-companies which rely on an experiential learning setting, is still a young field and shared frameworks concerning entrepreneurial competences and longitudinal research designs are missing. This paper addresses to this research gap by analysing whether students who participate in a mini-company develop entrepreneurial competences. Design/methodology/approach: The study is conducted in a quasi-experimental design, building upon a validated and psychometrically sound research instrument that is based on a newly designed entrepreneurial competence framework. In total, 100 pupils from grammar schools in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, participated in the experimental and control group at both time points. Findings: The results show that students expand their entrepreneurial competences on an economic level. In comparison, they show only limited developments on the personal and team level. The findings have important implications for the further development of entrepreneurship education programmes as well as on the interaction between schools and (regional) entrepreneurs, business partners and enterprises. Originality/value: This study examines pupils' development of entrepreneurial competences in a quasi-experimental design. It highlights that participating pupils develop economic competences when participating in mini-companies in comparison to pupils participating in regular economics classes. This study sheds further light on the effects of mini-companies, and thus contributes to the discussion of entrepreneurship education at schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population aging is exacerbating the loss of competences in the workforce and simultaneously young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs) are struggling to be reengaged in employment. These issues, which are deemed priorities for the European policy agenda, could be addressed by triggering active aging dimensions, valuing and exploiting older adult entrepreneurs' knowledge for enhancing youngsters' entrepreneurial attitudes, through mentoring. This paper reports the results of a study based on an intergenerational learning program, carried out in 2018 in Germany, Italy and Slovenia. The study was aimed at developing and testing one training on mentoring addressing 41 older adult entrepreneurs (55 and over), and two intergenerational learning trainings aiming at boosting entrepreneurial competences of 33 NEETs (aged 18–29). The impact of the program on older adult entrepreneurs and NEETs was assessed through a pre and post-evaluation using qualitative and quantitative tools. Findings at country level were treated as national case-studies and then the latter were compared by considering them as a multiple embedded case-study. Results indicated that, to different extent in the study countries, mentors learned and enhanced mentoring competences, e.g. active listening and the capability of orienting, improved well-being and self-esteem, social inclusion and active aging attitude. Moreover, NEETs acquired entrepreneurial and socio-relational competences by benefiting from the full exploitation of mentors' know-how and the trust relationship with them. Companies, trade unions, educational and voluntary organizations should cooperate to adopt intergenerational learning programs as good practices for older adults and NEETs' lifelong learning promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotions are present in all learning processes, including those in entrepreneurship education. In this paper, we investigate which kinds of emotions exist in entrepreneurship education at university and in which contexts they occur, and show how the concept of liminal spaces – spaces of transformation in which students encounter high degrees of uncertainty, while their potential for learning is maximised – can be used in order to understand the role of negative emotions for entrepreneurship education. Providing examples from courses on entrepreneurship for Engineering and Business Administration students at a German university, we are able to confirm findings of existing literature on the type and sources of emotions. Moreover, our findings suggest that reflection of students on emotional processes that involve the endurance of uncertainty contribute significantly to the achievement of learning outcomes and that – within the limits of existing learning cultures and guidelines for assessment – teachers can facilitate such processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a number of barriers and opportunities facing alternative measures of economic welfare by conducting semi-structured in-depth interviews with (potential) users in both Belgium and Germany. The barriers that they identified are grouped into three categories. Context factors are embedded in the policy context and agendas that shape the environment in which an indicator percolates, indicator factors depend on specific characteristics of the indicators, while user factors relate to the level of experience and expertise of the users of indicators and the institutional culture in which they operate. Drawing on the different barriers that are reported, we identify four opportunities to increase the policy value of alternative measures of economic welfare: harmonizing and updating the methodological framework, extending macroeconomic models to include a wider range of welfare-related items, improving the communication around these indicators and promoting indicator and researcher entrepreneurship. These opportunities should be regarded as recommendations to the scientific community that works on these alternative measures. The process of overcoming the different barriers listed in this paper should not be insurmountable, as there is clear international public support for using health, social and environmental statistics as well as economic statistics to measure societal progress and human well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the impact of enterprise education on entrepreneurial attitude within European higher education institutions (HEIs) in France, Germany and Poland. The research seeks to consider whether differences between cultural and industrial heritage can influence entrepreneurial attitude and mediate the effectiveness of enterprise education. Design/methodology/approach - Research argues that Europe requires more entrepreneurs willing to innovate and create new ventures to facilitate economic growth. This research builds on prior studies, which have examined the impact of enterprise education and training on business start-up. In particular the study utilises the concept of entrepreneurial attitude to measure how enterprise education influences students'' perceptions of, and motivations towards, entrepreneurship as a viable career option. The study contrasts and compares the impact of a short enterprise course on entrepreneurial attitude among undergraduate students in French, German and Polish HEIs. A quantitative methodology employed a research instrument utilising five-point Likert arrays to contrast attitudes and opinions of students both prior to, and after, the delivery of the course. Findings - Enterprise education has a positive impact on entrepreneurial attitude of French and Polish students. Conversely, the course had a negative impact on male German students. It was also found that while female students are more likely to perceive a greater benefit from the learning experience, the impact of enterprise education on entrepreneurial attitude is actually more significant for male students. Practical implications - The research findings are of interest to academia and policy makers. The study suggests that entrepreneurial attitude among European students can be influenced by exposure to enterprise education. The results also indicate that gender, cultural and industrial heritage can moderate the impact of enterprise education. Originality/value - The paper provides evidence that differences between gender, culture and regional settings need to be considered in the design and delivery of enterprise programmes if they are to have the desired impact on entrepreneurial intent and graduate entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial scope of knowledge flows is a topic of fierce debate. While several studies have focused on single modes, the aim of this paper is to look at different knowledge flows originating from individual scientists, namely, scientific and industrial collaboration, entrepreneurial activities and human capital formation. The analysis is based on qualitative data acquired from interviews with distinguished German scientists from the disciplines of science and technology. It was found that the excellence of star scientists manifests itself in several ways. However, the results do not confirm the expectation that knowledge flows are predominantly locally embedded. The impact on the local economy was especially low for industrial collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy (RE) is one of the most popular public policy orientations worldwide. Compared to some other countries and continents, Europe has gained an early awareness of energy and environmental problems in general. At the theoretical level, free-market environmentalism indicates that based on the principle of private property rights, with fewer state interventionist and regulation policies, entrepreneurs, as the driving force of the market economy, can provide better services to meet the necessity of offering RE to protect the environment more effectively. Previous studies have revealed that Germany, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have made some progress in using the market to develop RE. However, this research did not analyze the three countries' RE conditions from the perspective of free-market environmentalism. Based on our review of the principles of free-market environmentalism, this paper originally provides an empirical study of how Germany, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have partly conducted free-market-oriented policies to successfully achieve their policy goal of RE since the 1990s on a practical level. In particular, compared with Germany and Denmark, the UK has maintained a relatively low energy tax rate and opted for more pro-market measures since the Hayekian-Thatcherism free-market reform of 1979. The paper also discovers that Fredrich A. Hayek's theories have strongly impacted its energy liberalization reform agenda since then. Low taxes on the energy industry and electricity have alleviated the burden on the electricity enterprises and consumers in the UK. Moreover, the empirical results above show that the energy enterprises play essential roles in providing better and more affordable RE for household and industrial users in the three sampled countries. Based on the above results, the paper also warns that state intervention policies such as taxation, state subsidies, and industrial access restrictions can impede these three countries' RE targets. Additionally, our research provides reform agendas and policy suggestions to policymakers on the importance of implementing free-market environmentalism to provide more efficient RE in the post-COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — This paper aims to give the reader an insight into the evolution of a fast-growing and innovative Internet company by helping to understand the web portal business in Germany and to identify and assess strategies to transform an Internet portal to an Internet communications enterprise. Design/methodology/approach — The case is based on field research accomplished together with executives of the company. Findings — The case shows that implementing a professional management structure and a continuous strategic analysis of the competitive environment are crucial for being successful in a dynamic Internet business. Practical implications — Teachers can use this case study in advanced management courses for applying methodologies of strategic analysis, e.g. M. Porter's five-forces-model, value-chain analysis, concept of key success factors, SWOT-analysis. Students are expected to know basics about financial analysis, and information technologies. Managers can take the case as a best practice example for successful entrepreneurship in the Internet world. Originality/value — The paper provides insights into the strategies of an innovative Internet company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas initially physical capital and later, knowledge capital were viewed as crucial for growth, more recently a very different factor, entrepreneurship capital, has emerged as a driving force of economic growth. In this paper, we define a region's capacity to create new firms start-ups as the region's entrepreneurship capital. We then investigate the local embeddedness of this variable and which variables have an impact on this variable. Using data for Germany, we find that knowledge-based entrepreneurship capital is driven by local levels of knowledge creation and the acceptance of new ideas, indicating that local knowledge flows play an important role. Low-tech entrepreneurship capital is rather increased by regional unemployment and driven by direct incentives such as subsidies. All three measures are locally clustered, indicating that indeed, entrepreneurship capital is a phenomenon that is driven by local culture, and is therefore locally bounded. Mientras que inicialmente el capital físico, y posteriormente el capital conocimiento, fue considerado crucial para el crecimiento, más recientemente un factor muy diferente, el capital empresarial de espíritu emprendedor ( entrepreneurship capital), ha surgido como una fuerza impulsora de crecimiento económico. En este artículo, definimos como capital empresarial emprendedor la capacidad de una región para originar la puesta en marcha de nuevas empresas. A continuación investigamos el arraigo local de esta variable y las variables que tienen un impacto sobre esta variable. Usando datos de Alemania, hallamos que el capital empresarial emprendedor basado en el conocimiento está motivado por niveles locales de creación de conocimiento y la aceptación de nuevas ideas, indicando que los flujos de conocimiento local juegan un papel importante. El capital empresarial emprendedor basado en bajas tecnologías aumenta con el desempleo regional y está motivado por incentivos directos como subsidios. Las tres variables están agrupadas localmente ( locally clustered), indicando que sin duda el capital empresarial emprendedor es un fenómeno motivado por la cultura local, y por tanto atribuible a una localidad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to reconstruct economic reasoning on entrepreneurship from the perspective of its institutional content, thus underlining the aspects of power relations and leadership, which are related with the organisational and technological dimensions of innovation and coordination as entrepreneurial functions. Design/methodology/approach - In reconstructing the theory of entrepreneurship in a range from classical political economy to current efforts in economic sociology, the paper focuses on an appreciation of Schumpeterian entrepreneurship as a concept that is influenced both by Austrian marginalism and the German historical school. Findings - The paper finds that the research perspective of economic sociology as a means for exploring the institutional foundations of entrepreneurship is of utmost relevance for further efforts in theorising the role of entrepreneurship in economic development. Practical implications - The paper promotes policy implications, which underline that policies for the support of entrepreneurship need to account for the differentiation of entrepreneurial functions and their actual carriers, reconsidering the economic manifestations of their institutional embeddedness. Originality/value - The paper establishes innovation and coordination as ideal types of entrepreneurial functions, perceiving them as fundamental concepts in economic reasoning on entrepreneurship in the process of economic development [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to identify regions with industrial clusters in Germany and to analyse their entrepreneurial environment. A new index employing industry data supplied from the German Federal Labour Office is used to elaborate on spatial clusters in the most concentrated Germany industries. A second data set collected as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), series to assess the relationship between regional clusters and entrepreneurial activities and attitudes. The paper tests the rather popular but hitherto seldomly empirically-proven hypothesis that the existence of one or several industrial cluster(s) in a region has a positive impact on the number of start-ups and attitudes in the very same region. The implications of the findings with respect to regional policies encouraging industrial clusters are discussed briefly in the concluding section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the argument that we are witnessing a fundamental transformation in society's disposition of labor capacity, seen in changes in the labor strategy of large employers. This may be leading to a new type of labor power that could be called 'self-entrepreneurial'. In the paper's first part the concept of the 'entreployee' (Arbeitskraftunternehmer) is presented briefly, after which, the second part examines several important theoretical objections to the concept, raised in the course of current German debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on qualitative, semi-structured interviews with Taiwanese entrepreneurs who operate mostly small- to medium-scale businesses in the computer sales sector in Hamburg (Germany), this paper brings out the diversity of `ethnic entrepreneurship', a notion which is conventionally used almost exclusively for labour-intensive light industries and service-sector activities run by family members or co-ethnics of migrant communities. In order to understand the complex operation strategies of these entrepreneurs, I use the concept of `mixed embeddedness', which emphasises the crucial interplay of the social cultural aspects on the one hand, and that of the local and broader economies on the other. This paper will highlight the importance of developments in production and marketing of the computer hardware industry, the economic conditions in Asia, and the socio-economic environment in Germany in shaping operation tactics, including location rationale, choice of business type and marketing strategies of these enterprises. In addition, the roles of local and transnational ethnic networks in facilitating both business and personal life of these overseas Chinese entrepreneurs in Germany will also be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the financialisation of sovereign debt through an in-depth study of institutional change in German debt management. Between 1998 and 2006, the Ministry of Finance fundamentally altered the management of federal public debt by not only disempowering the Bundesbank and Federal Debt Administration as debt managers and outsourcing this task to a new agency, the Federal Finance Agency; moreover, the conservative debt strategy was replaced by strict market orientation. Conceptualising this change as institutional innovation, the paper argues that the Ministry of Finance played a leading role in the reform process. It shows that the arrival of the Euro brought with it a power struggle between the Ministry and the Bundesbank. The evidence fits better the concept of institutional innovation as a result of entrepreneurship than approaches which conceptualise institutional innovations as consequences of profit maximisation or layering and displacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of factors that determine the transition from nascent entrepreneurship to real entrepreneurship is of major importance for policies aiming to stimulate start-ups effectively. Scholars have concentrated mainly on person-specific factors to explain transition probabilities, and environmental characteristics have been relatively neglected. Given that entrepreneurship is a strongly localized phenomenon, this paper argues that regional entrepreneurial opportunities are a driving force behind the transition from nascent entrepreneurship to new venture creation. Based on unique data from 103 nascent entrepreneurs in the German biotechnology industry, we empirically assess the importance of regional entrepreneurial opportunities for transition probabilities. Further, we introduce a new approach to measure nascent entrepreneurship by capturing details of individuals who participate actively in start-up competitions and have won at least one of these. Controlling for technology and individual characteristics, we find strong support for our hypotheses relating to the significant impact of general regional opportunities, specific regional opportunities and the entrepreneurial environment on the probability of transition from award-winning nascent entrepreneurs to real start-ups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Based on the notion that entrepreneurship is a 'local event', the literature argues that entrepreneurs are 'rooted' in place. This paper tests the 'residential rootedness' hypothesis of self-employment by examining for Germany and the UK whether the selfemployed are less likely to move over long distances (internal migration) than workers in paid employment. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), and accounting for transitions in employment status we found little evidence that the self-employed in Germany and the UK are more rooted in place than workers in paid employment. Generally speaking, the selfemployed were no less likely than workers in paid employment to migrate over longer distance. In contrast to the residential rootedness hypothesis we found that entry into selfemployment and female self-employment are associated with internal migration, and that the self-employed who work from home (home-based businesses) are fairly geographically mobile. The gendered results suggest that women might use self-employment as a strategy to be spatially mobile with their household, or as a strategy to stay in the workforce after having moved residence until they find a job in the more secure wage and salary sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I investigate the mechanisms through which a cluster policy can enhance entrepreneurship defi ned as new venture creation. The paper is based on the study of a cluster policy ('BioRegio') that strongly simulated new fi rm creation in biotechnology in Germany after 1996. The process induced by BioRegio at the territory level is analyzed over a ten-year period (1995-2004). I identify a three-step social mechanism through which a cluster policy can enhance entrepreneurship. The presented results strengthen the literature on cluster policies and clusters on the specifi c issue of entrepreneurship: four main contributions are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Commission in the scope of its cohesion policy tries to increase competitiveness of the European Union (EU) regions by supporting, beside many other instruments, entrepreneurial activities in the EU sub-national regions. This paper sheds an empirical light on the relationship between entrepreneurial activities and entrepreneurial perceptions on the one hand and the economic performance of regions eligible for EU regional policies in Spain and Germany on the other. Based on empirical data on the NUTS2 level, there will be analysis of whether previous EU support has later had an impact on entrepreneurial activities and/or entrepreneurial perception in the regions. The results show empirical evidence for a relationship between entrepreneurial activities and EU regional policies. However, other determinants such as gender and the role model function have an even stronger impact. Some of the results may help to increase the effectiveness of EC regional policies and of regional policies of the national governments, especially if the interdependence of entrepreneurship support policies and proper regional policies is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the structure and strategies of Polish migrant entrepreneurship in Berlin in the 1990s, drawing on statistical data, in-depth interviews and a comparison to Turkish entrepreneurship in Berlin. Existing research on the entrepreneurial activity of migrants and ethnic minorities tends to focus on processes observed solely within specific places in the country of immigration. I argue that further insights into the dynamics of 'ethnic entrepreneurship' are enabled by introducing the concept of transnational social space to the 'mixed embeddedness' perspective on ethnic business. This approach may explain the early orientation towards an open and transnational market among Polish entrepreneurs in comparison to the more local orientation of the 'ethnic community' in the first period of Turkish entrepreneurship. Four main entrepreneurial strategies of migrants from Poland can be observed: first, utilising a high degree of personal mobility and the differences in purchasing power between Germany and Poland in cross-border trade; second, the recruitment of 'transnational workers'; third, referring to the 'Polish community' as a market; and fourth, opening branches in Poland of businesses initiated and based in Germany. These strategies point to the relevance of transnational social networks and mobility in the context of national and transnational market conditions and politico-institutional frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of a media firm-survey and the measurement of in-town enterprise concentration, this paper explains the extraordinary sub-sectoral specialization and the spatial concentration towards radio and television in a German city: Cologne. A peculiar mix of institutional support, typical of German capitalism and unorthodox deviance from such arrangements is discovered in all matters of collective goods provision, including vocational training, enterprise financing, etc. Using a case study-approach, this article shows how the German model of capitalism can be rearranged for new markets on the local level, successfully overcoming institutional constraints by informal cooperation and institutional entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author addresses the recent proliferation of cross-border regions, or 'Euroregions', in Europe. It is argued that EU multilevel governance patterns generate opportunities for entrepreneurial policy organisations to attract policy tasks and resources. This is conceptualised as policy entrepreneurship and applied to a comparative case-study analysis of three Euroregions: EUREGIO (Germany - Netherlands), Viadrina (Poland - Germany), and Tyrol Euroregion (Austria - Italy). The analysis focuses on the ability of these initiatives to establish themselves as autonomous organisations. It finds considerable variation across the cases in this respect. Following on from this, the paper shows how administrative and institutional environments in different EU member states affect the ability of Euroregions to engage in policy entrepreneurship. It is concluded that it is premature to perceive Euroregions as new types of regional territorial entities; rather, they are part of the policy-innovation scenario enabled by EU multilevel governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper updates to 2006 material first gathered in the late 1990s. Though Germany has about the same number of firms as the UK its biotechnology economy is far weaker, with many small firms employing few people, relatively low venture capital investment and little interest being shown by pharmaceuticals companies in licensing intellectual property. The reverse is the case in the UK even though the investor euphoria at the time of the first comparative study has not returned. A new policy of 'entrepreneurship outsourcing' has become visible in the UK as venture capital perceives a better business climate for biotechnology entrepreneurship in the USA. Recent developments of this kind may add to debilitating European problems, loosening more proximate links within national and regional innovation systems widely perceived as highly important elements in biotechnology cluster performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates entrepreneurial women confronted with the self-employment or business career choice. Optimistic women have a higher proclivity to be businesswomen. Businesswomen select self- over paid employment when they are young or old, less educated, married or with under-age children. There are no significant native-immigrant differences. However, among immigrant women those who are in Germany 6 to 12 years are more likely to go into self-employment. These results show that women in Germany who are in their prime working age, educated, not married, and with no under-age children are less likely to choose self-employment, as it is not viewed as a channel to achieving higher socio-economic standing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central hypothesis presented here refers to the economic importance of the development of new products and design participation as an innovative and creative activity. This paper shows the industrial design perspective. There are two points of view here: the first point is global, and it shows the historical evolution of industrial design in the development of new products. There is a two-case analysis over two countries: Italy and Germany. They based their strategies upon the creation of new products. This last fact played an important role in the post-war period and after it. The article also analyzes the Mexican case and design application, which is still limited when talking about new products. On the other hand, the second perspective presents an approach into the process of developing new products, but just inside the company. This study considers the different languages used by industrial designers who search for understanding and fulfilling both owners/ entrepreneurs' requirements and consumers' needs and wishes, adapting them to manufacturers' ability. The designer needs to interpret the information in a proper way. This information is relatively subjective when it comes from the consumer, and it must be translated into a tangible fact. Marketing studies and surveys on consumers are generally synthesized in the design brief. However, the information needs to be complemented by another kind of information which is frequently required, that is to say: commercial, market, regulatory and legislative, technologic and scientific information; finally, political information is demanded too. Designers may have access to this information through several means: the mass media, institutional and human sources, and then combine the gathered information with the existing knowledge and experience. The development of new products is an important part of the company strategies. This last point is crucial when considering the company survival in the mid- and long-term. Design plays an important role and may serve as a distinguishing tool for a company to satisfy the consumers' needs with regard to price and quality. It is also important that the interface existing between product and consumer be satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]