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The real core of the smart specialisation approach is embedded in what is known as the entrepreneurial process of discovery (EPD), which is a main novelty of this innovative policy framework. A successful EPD requires a relevant involvement of stakeholders in a clear break with past practices, but this demands a careful actors' selection. In this context, this paper proposes an analytical method for the selection of private business stakeholders, based on a transparent and measurable criterion: the choice of the entrepreneurs who can best define an adequate resource allocation over time in a context of uncertainty. On the basis of a simple general equilibrium model with monopolistic competition, the paper proposes a simple test comparing the optimal decisions on factors' demand taken in different periods. The closer both factors' demands are, the better the entrepreneur's ability will be to predict the most adequate level of resources, which is an indicator of economic success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth. To do so, we analyze whether entrepreneurial activity (based on data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, GEM) affect the economic activity in a given country (as measured by the Gross Domestic Product, GDP). A key methodological contribution of this paper is that the relationship between entrepreneurial activity and GDP growth considers that a relevant part of economic growth is explained by exogenous variables. For this reason, the empirical analysis is based on data on South American Countries, where external factors are more relevant to drive GDP. We found that for the countries analyzed there is a positive and significant relationship between intrapreneurial activity and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper explores the ability of the state-level economic institutions, i.e., economic freedom and its components, to explain the movements of entrepreneurship rate after the Great Recession. We use panel date from 50 U.S. states during the period (2008–2017). This paper employs three estimators, fixed effect, panel-corrected standard errors method with states dummy variables, and generalized method of moments (GMM) to extract robust results. The results show that the effect of economic factors on the entrepreneurship rate persists more than that of the institutional and profit opportunity factors. Economic freedom, economic development, and firms' death rate have a statistically positive effect on entrepreneurship activities. However, the unemployment rate and tax regulations have a statistically significant negative effect. This finding implies that in the state of a recession such as the Great Recession, the entrepreneurship activities will deteriorate sharply. In such a case, the economy needs a genuine government intervention to support economic growth, reduce the unemployment rate, and thus enhance the entrepreneurial activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction to the special issue “Geography & Entrepreneurship: Managing Growth and Change” in the Journal of The Knowledge Economy includes a collection of seven papers. Through theoretical and empirical research, this special issue aims to clarify the connection between geography and entrepreneurship. In doing so, growth strategies and change trajectories of countries, regions, and firms are analyzed. The papers use extensive data that enable the models to provide a rich picture of how academic institutions, companies, and regional governments contribute to regional development. As a result, these studies provide new perspectives on regional entrepreneurial transformation. Theoretical perspectives, methodologies, and their application to several contexts provide an advancement of our understanding about Geography and Entrepreneurship. Perspectives on R&D and knowledge, internationalization strategies, high-growth businesses, technological entrepreneurs, university spin-offs, transnational entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial networks are dominant themes included in this special issue. A brief description of the authors’ contributions is offered to attract a broader readership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship is a highly complex process influenced by numerous factors. The goal of this paper is to identify the combinations of fundamental entrepreneurial determinants that drive opportunity recognition (OR) in different economic environments. We focus on two points in Tunisia's recent economic cycle: before and after the 2011 Revolution. Using micro-level survey data, the study employs ordered logit analysis to identify basic entrepreneur characteristics that may increase the likelihood of identifying entrepreneurial opportunities during these two economic cycle phases. Several key factors, such as training, creativity, and social networks, are found to be ineffective in the OR process. Furthermore, education attainment lost its major and well-established function throughout Tunisia's profound and protracted socioeconomic crisis. Only self-efficacy and prior experience have particularly strong effects on identifying entrepreneurial opportunities during the period of economic downturn. Despite the government's efforts to incorporate entrepreneurship education into university curricula and business practices, these findings show that Tunisia is still in the early phases of entrepreneurship integration and development, with patchy and uncoordinated activity. The drivers of entrepreneurial perception in the quest for opportunities described by western theories should not be applied uniformly in less developed economies, which have unique political and economic contexts and challenges. We also noticed that the revolution's resulting crisis did not deter young entrepreneurs from launching business ventures. This finding may pique the Tunisian government's interest in devising an effective strategy to support young entrepreneurship, especially in light of the new COVID-19 outbreak's potential impact on Tunisia's already vulnerable economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that entrepreneurship plays a key role in economic development; however, its cultural underpinnings remain a marginal field of study. This paper is an attempt to fill this gap. The development trend of the oil-rich United Arab Emirates ("UAE") is at the heart of debates surrounding the effects of culture on economic choices and outcomes. In order to move away from an oil-based economy and provide private sector jobs for its growing number of nationals, the UAE has promoted and implemented diversification strategies over the last 20 years. Yet, less than 2% of the private sector workforce is composed of UAE nationals. The latter prefer working in the public sector because of better salary and working conditions. This paper seeks to explain the cultural foundations of the lack of entrepreneurship among UAE nationals. It conducts a survey among students from United Arab Emirates University and tests the determinants of their entrepreneurial intentions. It shows that the students' culture is holistic and rather hostile to entrepreneurship. Such disinterest is stronger because of fear of stigmatization associated with business failure and because of social prestige associated with public sector jobs. Our results not only confirm the cultural specificity of Rentier States but also invite the launching of educational programs aimed at modifying students' beliefs over entrepreneurship. Such cultural change seems inevitable in the context of a transition from an oil-based to a knowledge-based economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation has become a vital paradigm today for both to start a successful startup and also to run an already functioning business efficiently. The Indian food sector has enormous potentialities to transform the Indian economy due to its both forward-thinking technology adoption and backward traditional practices that together form a strong linkage. However, this potential can be converted into reality only through investment and continuous innovations. Based on these concepts, the present paper gives attention to these innovation terminologies and then dives into how these innovations have a drive within the Indian food industry. The study is exploratory and is based on secondary data sources regarding innovation, R&D investments by companies, and the number of patents registered. The paper also sheds light on how policies and government regulation can indulge innovation more in the food sector in the coming future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research to date has not explored that the role of entrepreneurship has a key driver of China's economic growth and how the nature of entrepreneurship may differ between India and China in this context. This difference will have implications on the extent of entrepreneurship as a driver of Indian economic growth. The aim of this paper is to fill this research gap. Furthermore, one of the central premises of this paper is that the economic reforms in China have provided an incentive for the Chinese to embrace their uniquely cultural entrepreneurial skills. However, this has not happened in isolation because the reforms have targeted all sectors of the economy; the most important of these reforms for entrepreneurial facilitation has been associated with infrastructure, education, property rights, ownership restructuring and foreign direct investment. In this case, changes in infrastructure, knowledge creation and knowledge spillovers have led indirectly to China's economic growth. This is because knowledge spillovers have been facilitated by entrepreneurship. Moreover, this process has been characterised by the dynamic nature of institutional change in China. Nevertheless, in India at state level, there is variation in the level of economic, institutional and infrastructural development. Furthermore, there is also a tendency for firms in India to remain small. This may be due to the country's rigid labour laws. The findings of this paper indicate that entrepreneurship is stronger in China than in India from an economic, cultural and a historical perspective. Private entrepreneurship has been stimulated in China by the incrementally evolving economic reforms which resulted in the dynamic nature of institution formation. However, private entrepreneurship in India remains constrained by institutional factors and institutional rigidity. Nevertheless, social entrepreneurship is more prevalent in India than in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New endogenous growth theory introduces how investment in knowledge and human capital contribute to economic growth through spillover of knowledge. However, the theory has limitation because it does not explain the cause and the mechanism of how knowledge spillover occurs. Accordingly, by employing panel data of 33 provinces in Indonesia over the period of 2008–2013 and fixed effect method, this paper aims to investigate the roles of entrepreneurship on regional economic growth in Indonesia. The study applies different approaches to measure the entrepreneurial activities based on GEM categories, namely, self-employment rate and business ownership rate as indicators of entrepreneurial productivity. Furthermore, a more specific analysis is conducted by identifying entrepreneurial activities into formal sector and informal sector. The estimation result indicates that entrepreneurial productivity plays a significant role on regional economic growth in Indonesia. Moreover, entrepreneurial activities in different sectors give different contributions on the economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the origins, evolution and prospects of national innovation systems (NISs) using bibliometric techniques. All available data in the Web of Science Core Collection database up to and including the year 2017 are considered in the analysis. Both the number of NIS studies and the number of citations of these studies reflect the influence of this topic and the attention and growing interest of the scientific community, public administrations and international organisations in NIS research. The co-citation analysis of cited references provides a historical view of the origins of the NIS, and the bibliographic coupling between the documents gives a current overview of the status of NIS research. Our approach highlights the fact that many studies belong to previous, well-developed research streams. We also examine the topics covered by recent studies in each stream and the evolution of the most common keywords over time. In conclusion, we propose a research agenda based on three pillars: (1) the adaptation of innovation systems to the current global economic crisis and the application of the Quintuple Helix model to deal with this new scenario, (2) the adaptation of innovation systems to developing countries and (3) the specific fit of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial innovations into NIS research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the development paths of Greece, as these are reflected in different regions of the country. It adopts the theoretical framework of Business Knowledge Society, which is both an extension and reformulation of both the neoclassical growth function and the endogenous growth function. The validity of the model of Business Knowledge Society in Greece is investigated through the effect of the stock of physical capital and labor, human capital, knowledge capital, and venture capital in the resulting product of each region. The results of this paper show that entrepreneurship capital exerts a strong positive impact on the region's economic output. It is implied that investments in entrepreneurship capital are more productive compared with investments in knowledge capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on craft firms that have contributed to the creation of a strong image of Italy in the world and encouraged the development of industrial districts and small firms in the country over the past decades. However, ongoing economic, technological, social, and cultural changes in recent years have made it difficult for these firms to survive: since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008 until 2015, almost 94,400 craft workshops have closed, which amounts to a 7.26 % rate of decrease. In order to face these challenges, craft entrepreneurs must be innovative and review the ways in which they provide value to customers. By means of a qualitative explorative analysis, this study aims to analyze recent strategic directions undertaken by some Italian craft firms and identify the opportunities derived from them. It highlights three directions in particular: (1) to embrace the use of digital technologies, rather than viewing them as a threat to the firm's future, (2) to involve customers in the design and production processes and expand the firm's network, and (3) to offer a wide range of services in relation to their products. Following all three of these strategic paths will help craft firms to survive and increase their competitive advantage by capturing opportunities offered by new technologies and new ways to produce. This paper concludes that mixing ancient and digital knowledge in an open context of collaboration will allow craft entrepreneurs to positively look to the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interactive CDR index combines the degree of capitalism, democracy, and rule of law associated with a particular country. In previous work, depictions of the CDR index and its implications for gross domestic product were based on approximate trends. No formal measurements were made. This paper presents a formal measurement of the CDR index based on published country market capitalization, rankings in democracy, and rankings in corruption, taking into account the effect of interactions. Consistent with the principle of parsimony, the CDR index explains per capita real gross domestic product adjusted for purchasing power parity (G) with only three variables. We show that G is a function of the CDR index as evidence that a national policy should focus on raising a country's CDR index, whether or not it is resource rich. Countries with a low CDR index fare poorly in wealth even when they are rich in natural resources. While the importance of capitalism, democracy, and rule of law appear to remain elusive to economically unsuccessful countries, governments do have access to the means for raising them exogenously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports how the offered university activities support the development of students' entrepreneurship abilities. Data were collected from 306 students from Slovenian and 609 students from Croatian universities. The study reduces the gap between theoretical researches about the academic entrepreneurship education and individual empirical studies about the student's estimation of the offered academic activities for development of their entrepreneurial abilities. The empirical research revealed differences in Slovenian and Croatian students' perception about (a) needed academic activities and (b) significance of the offered university activities, for the development of their entrepreneurial abilities. Additionally, the results reveal that the impact of students' gender and study level on their perception about the importance of the offered academic activities is not significant for most of the considered activities. The main practical implication is focused on further improvement of universities' entrepreneurship education programs through selection and utilization of activities which can fill in the recognized gaps between the students' needed and the offered academic activities for the development of students' entrepreneurial abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general idea of this paper is the fact that the theory of innovation cannot be completed as long as the idea of creativity is not introduced in the analysis of the cognitive processes involved. Too often, in innovation studies, novelty is considered as pure knowledge creation. The new approach of creativity in management science, economic geography, or sociology of innovation has revealed the importance of other ingredients than knowledge: entrepreneurship, serendipity, imagination, etc. In particular, creative cities are not just knowledge-based territories. For addressing the issue of creative territories, we need first to define creativity in general and in different domains: in science (discovery), technology (invention), or economy (innovation), as well as in artistic, cultural, or societal fields. We will underline the necessity to be creative in policy design as well. It is not enough to build knowledge infrastructures and to promote human capital or attract "creative people." Are there recipes for the creative governance of geographical entities? What can we learn from the application of standard policies? And from the new policy paradigms like the Smart specialization strategy of the EU? At microeconomic level, entrepreneurs and creative organizations must deal with the exploration/exploitation issues and find an acceptable tradeoff. Territories must also find relevant governance structures and procedures for the "creative" design of development strategies. In this perspective, they can rely on certain actors of the innovation process, like knowledge-based business services, and some talented individuals, for implementing the necessary distributed intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries with advanced innovation systems are consolidating and optimizing their National Innovation Ecosystem (NIE) frameworks. In contrast, emerging economies are formulating their own NIE frameworks in order to capitalize and build on the nation's advantages to create self-sustaining innovation capabilities to compete internationally. The challenge is not to copy the best performers but to define their own original innovation policy, taking into account specific strengths, weaknesses, priorities, and cultural and institutional traditions. This paper presents detailed study cases for the following three countries with high level of innovation: Finland, South Korea, and Singapore. It summarizes each country's experiences and key findings. The paper concludes with a set of pillars to be taken into consideration when designing NIE or revising an existing one to encompass the realm of activities needed for a country to reach its goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, technological changes have reformed business environment and made entrepreneurial activity as the main channel behind knowledge spillovers and knowledge creation. Therefore, the factors affecting entrepreneurial activity will indirectly affect knowledge transmission. This paper examines those factors influencing the entrepreneurial process by analyzing the results of 164 questionnaires distributed in the region of Thessaly (central Greece). In addition, by using nonparametric techniques, this paper establishes three different factors that appear to have dominant influence on the entrepreneurial process. The first factor is related to entrepreneurial skills, education, and previous experience, whereas the second factor is related to issues regarded desire of independence and locus of control. Finally, the third factor, which influences the entrepreneurial activity, is related to the access of capital, to social aspects, and to regions' institutional environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The populations of economically developed countries are rapidly aging. This represents a sign of demographic success but at the same time it poses several problems for these societies, among which would be an eventual loss of entrepreneurial spirit. Concomitant with the latter idea, the body of empirical literature has shown that the probability of starting a business seems to increase with age up to a threshold point (between 35 and 44 years of age) and to decrease thereafter. However, this does not automatically imply that the innovative attitude of those who opt for an entrepreneurial career in an older population is lower than that characterizing a younger population. One may, indeed, surmise that more efforts will be exerted to introduce innovations as a strategy to compensate the negative effects produced by the shrinking in labor force size and in human capital productivity. Establishing whether population aging has an impact on the innovation attitude of entrepreneurs is crucial to offering a better understanding of the ways through which aging my affect economic growth. In the present paper, we implement a cross-country analysis aimed at answering the following research questions: are older individuals characterized by a lower probability of becoming entrepreneurs? If this turns out to be true, then are the entrepreneurs operating in older societies less or more prone to innovate? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study the knowledge and technology transfer processes taking place in cooperation between academia and industry cooperation through an EU-funded R & D project. We follow a qualitative research methodology through a case study, incorporating interviews with the institutional actors involved (university, industry and government) in the cooperation project. While this study is limited to a case study, it does, however, highlight the importance of Triple Helix networks in order to develop research, development and innovation (RDI) initiatives and their commercialization and correspondingly enabling the identification of both potential opportunities and constraints in the process. Through the practical perspective of a successful Triple Helix cooperation case study, we were able to develop an innovative and continuous olive harvesting machine in order to satisfy a real need in the Mediterranean market. Inserted within the context of the triangulation of the Triple Helix model, this paper demonstrates the importance of RDI cooperation networks and the consequent commercialization of new tradable products with positive consequences to regional competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we chronicle the early history of the development of the Gateway University Research Park at the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. We document the institutional efforts of faculty, administrators, and public leaders who moved the Gateway idea from seed to harvest to provide guideposts for other institutions to possibly follow that are contemplating establishing a research park. Our summary emphasizes the concept of cooperation not only because it is a cornerstone of the successful development of Gateway, but also because it might be a key element to which others relate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most developed economies there exist a clear gap between men and women in terms of prevalence of entrepreneurial activity. The gender gap can be traced back to the general perceptions of gender in society, where entrepreneurial venturing is culturally defined as a masculine activity. In this paper, we analyse how such gendered norms are brought into Triple Helix innovation system models, and identify roles and challenges of NGOs in the alternative conceptualization of Quadruple Helix. Based on an exploratory case study of a Quadruple Helix innovation system project in the tourism industry, we find that NGOs may fill four roles in bridging the gender gap: (1) collaborative platforms for women-led SMEs, (2) legitimating and linking women-led SMEs to governmental and academic actors, (3) developing competences and process innovations related to entrepreneurial venturing outside traditional Triple Helix constellations and (4) carrying individual and societal aspects of entrepreneuring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entrepreneurship of women in rural areas can provide economic versatility for families and help protect the social structure. Women have different reasons and motivations for engaging in entrepreneurship activities in different societies. The present research aimed to find the reasons for and obstacles to the creation and development of business and entrepreneurship activities using the interview method. The research population who were interviewed was fourteen exemplary female entrepreneurs in Khorasan Razavi province, Iran, who were introduced to us by the Office of Women's Affairs and the Family of the Khorasan Razavi Governor. The results of the interview were encoded and analyzed with the MaxQda software. The results showed that the most important reasons and motivations of women for entrepreneurship activities included economic, social, humane, personal, cultural, and environmental. Economic reasons were the strongest ones. The most important obstacles for women in creating and expanding entrepreneurial activities included bureaucratic, economic, family-oriented, psychological, infrastructure, policy-making, sociocultural, and technical. The study gives new insight into what obstacles women entrepreneurs are faced to create small rural businesses in rural areas and how they are motivated to develop their businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge, general and specific, plays a role in entrepreneurship. Little is known about the role of general knowledge in entrepreneurial intentions. This study fills the gap by proposing financial knowledge as general knowledge and entrepreneurial education as specific knowledge, and investigates their effects on entrepreneurial intentions and the three motivational factors including attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Using survey data of 480 undergraduates and the structural equation modeling approach, we find a significant impact of financial knowledge on entrepreneurial intentions and all three motivational factors. Entrepreneurial education does not have a significant direct impact but has an indirect effect on entrepreneurial intentions through attitude and perceived behavioral control. These results are important to educators and policymakers to design appropriate policies to improve financial knowledge due to its significant role in entrepreneurial decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study develops a crisis response theory that could help Nigeria sustain itself in the present crisis, which is deepening unemployment, poverty, and misery due to the tremendous economic crisis it faced after the global pandemic. Entrepreneurship is viewed as a pivotal engine for reinstating the declining economic state of a country. Through the positivist research approach, the study is conducted on the owners and business executives of SMEs established and operated by entrepreneurs in Nigeria. The data analyzed through surveys, in-depth telephone interviews, and secondary sources shows that Nigeria's economic instability is mainly because of a lack of financial assistance, industrialization, and technology limitations. Though it was observed that the government reduced certain unfriendly business regulations, corruption still caused funding conditions to shift frequently, and unreliable government policies made it challenging for entrepreneurs to thrive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the policy implications of the variety of development processes of start-up firms in a regional setting. The existing literature on entrepreneurship lacks accurate analysis of the processes that lead an idea of business to become an established firm. The present paper moves one step towards filling this gap by investigating the evolution process of a self-contained population of 80 new technology-based firms in the North Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. By clustering the firms in similar organisational configurations at three different points in time, the results show that it is possible to observe that firms develop along different, sometimes overlapping, paths. Our findings point to the need of entrepreneurship policies to be directed towards the creation of an environment that allows firms to be created and develop, instead of focusing on singular, and therefore, limited aspects of such processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nation has to innovate to survive in a knowledge economy. It is of interest why a country like India which has an exemplary record of innovation and discoveries since prehistoric period is falling behind than even comparable economies in Innovation Index. The present paper highlights India's potential and achievements in innovation and entrepreneurship in recent times and throws light what impedes India's success as an innovative nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore the readiness for the quadruple helix in 16 European innovation ecosystems, all within medium-sized cities. Based on qualitative empirical research, we present and analyze the current innovation architecture to support cooperation, cospecialization, and coopetition between actors, and the main functions carried out within the system. This allows us to discuss whether quadruple-helix innovation architecture (Q-HIA) evolves from triple-helix architectures. We also aim to provide some hints on when, how, and why Q-HIA exists. This research can contribute to the definition and streamlining of the role of local and regional actors, mainly policy makers, within the innovation ecosystem. Lessons may be transferred to many medium-sized cities as they battle to remain competitive in the context of increasing global competition and scale threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By applying dynamic panel data models and using worldwide governance indexes and popular country-level entrepreneurship measures over the period 1999 through 2018, this research aims to study why and how does institutional quality affect business start-up in high- and middle-income countries, after controlling for factors related to the institutional and macroeconomic environments. Our results indicate, first, that good governance promotes largely entrepreneurship in high-income countries, while its impact is moderate in middle-income countries. Second, the size and strength of the relationship between institutions and entrepreneurship vary with the country's economic development and with the chosen measure of entrepreneurship. Third, our findings reveal that the debate over whether corruption "sands" or "greases" the entrepreneurship wheels remains not yet settled even in the case of developed countries. Finally, our investigation highlights some policy implications that are essential for the development of an appropriate entrepreneurship policy to provide the engine of the knowledge economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the European Skills Council, the apparel industry is experiencing a renaissance in countries throughout the European Union, and this renaissance is marked by innovation and technical development among small firms. In this paper, the AEGIS database is used to estimate a growth model for the apparel industry. The annual rate of growth of European apparel firms is modeled and measured in terms of growth in number of employees since the firm was founded. The model is presented through descriptive statistical analyses on the relevant variables that were used to estimate this dimension of firm performance-founder characteristics including gender and education, as well as whether the firm is family owned. The model has implications for identifying factors important to apparel firm growth that could help in policy development designed to foster increased industry growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We verify if national culture influences the perception of opportunities and risk intolerance of entrepreneurs from Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries. Although Portugal and Spain are in the Iberian Peninsula, both developed distinct cultures, transmitted to their respective colonies along with their languages. Using language as a proxy for cultural heritage, we analyze Portugal and Spain and their former colonies using data from 2011 to 2015 provided by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (2018). The first model indicates that individuals from Portuguese culture who have previous knowledge and skills have an increased chance of perceiving opportunities when compared to Spanish culture individuals. This same model also shows that individuals of Portuguese culture who have some degree of risk intolerance are also more likely to perceive opportunities. Results from the second model indicate a direct effect of the national culture, suggesting that individuals of Portuguese culture are more prone to be risk intolerant than those of Spanish culture. However, an indirect effect signals that in Portuguese culture countries, previous knowledge and skills have an even greater effect of reducing risk intolerance. These findings may impact the way of managing entrepreneurship in countries possessing these Iberian cultures. In addition, they contribute to the development of public policies more targeted to the entrepreneurial development of a nation and to the transposition of these policies between countries with a common cultural context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent financial crisis in Greece seems to have structured a trend towards rural renaissance. This trend might be considered a chance for rural empowerment to emerge as a 'residual' phenomenon drawn from a return to the periphery propensity. With a view to provide insights on such possible rural empowerment, we analyse individuals' intentions towards entrepreneurship in rural areas. At the empirical level, we assess rural entrepreneurial potential and then we test for the factors that are conducive to it under an adopted operationalization of the n-tuple helixes approach to regional development. We employ data from two sources (micro level data from the Eurobarometer survey and contextual data from the Regional Accounts of the Hellenic Statistical Authority). Bootstrap logistic regression techniques provide robust empirical evidence of the importance of various sets of parameters including actor characteristics and actions, local community ties, civil services quality, the political environment, and the regional socio-economic structure. The predominant role of pecuniary concerns manifests the strong impact that the economic environment exerts on individuals' views towards entrepreneurship. On the other hand, individuals seem to view crisis as a chance for the private sector to develop under less protectionism and trustworthy civil services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical thinking has been a longstanding goal of education, while design thinking has gradually emerged as a popular method for supporting entrepreneurship, innovation, and problem solving in modern business. While some scholars have posited that design thinking may support critical thinking, empirical research examining the relationship between these two modes of thinking is lacking because their shared conceptual structure has not been articulated in detail and because they have remained siloed in practice. This essay maps eleven essential components of critical thinking to a variety of methods drawn from three popular design thinking frameworks. The mapping reveals that these seemingly unrelated modes of thinking share common features but also differ in important respects. A detailed comparison of the two modes of thinking suggests that design thinking methods have the potential to support and augment traditional critical thinking practices, and that design thinking frameworks could be modified to more explicitly incorporate critical thinking. The article concludes with a discussion of implications for the knowledge economy, and a research agenda for researchers, educators, and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impacts of national institutions and human capital on entrepreneurship density in a global sample of 67 economies over the period 2006–2016. Furthermore, the associations between human capital and institutions on entrepreneurial activities are investigated while controlling for financial development, economic growth, trade openness, FDI inflows and total natural rents. Employing the panel corrected standard error estimator to deal with cross-sectional dependence, we find that formal institutions represented by entrepreneurship procedures and the general institutional quality are positively associated with entrepreneurship density. Also, informal institutions represented by socialist history, common law system and colonial history are positively associated with entrepreneurship density. Notably, human capital has a moderating effect in reducing the negative impacts of weak institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to shed light on the relationship between total factor productivity (TFP) growth and high-tech entrepreneurship in a group of innovation-driven economies during the period 2007–2014. In this regard, we outline a panel data analysis method. For measuring high-tech entrepreneurship, we consider proportion of early-stage entrepreneurs and established business owners in high or medium technology sectors provided by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Based on the Global Competitiveness Report 2014–2015, business sophistication and innovation are considered control variables. Our findings reveal a non-linear high-tech entrepreneurship-TFP growth relationship in an innovation-driven context after the inclusion of control variables. A disappointing finding is that business sophistication and innovation exert negative impacts on TFP growth. Policy makers should put in place a whole new policy approach accordingly. Policies facilitating innovative start-ups are an important tool to enhance knowledge diffusion and stimulate productivity growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries are more and more committed to building a knowledge-based economy as a means to diversify from their current resource-based economy. The current focus of many governments is on technology with real insights on creative economy and arts. In this context, universities are seen as a key partner of the government. This article presents the results of two innovative case studies of professors working in the College of Art and Design collaborating with a professor in the College of Business to integrate the concepts of entrepreneurship into their interior design courses. This was done through designing space for entrepreneurial projects and by the students acting as entrepreneurs themselves with an external client. This dual model of training combines (1) learning processes about the habits and the needs of entrepreneurs and (2) learning by acting as an entrepreneur. Such methods demonstrate the role of universities to provide a proper theoretical background for students and to foster entrepreneurial behaviors through arts entrepreneurship education. Furthermore, the central role of professors to introduce innovative teaching methods to combine entrepreneurship and the creative economy into non-business courses is an important finding in these case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Romer (Journal of Political Economy, 98(5, Part 2), S71-S102, 1990) and Weitzman (The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113(2), 331-360, 1998) consider the importance of the effect of supply-side factors on innovation, Schmookler (1966) emphasizing the importance of demand-side factors. On the other hand, Acemoglu and Robinson (The American Economic Review, 90(2), 126–130, 2000) stress the effect of institutional quality on the behavior of elites who could prevent innovation changes. Since these three different theories have different viewpoints about the drivers of innovation, in this study we try to test which one is more important in developing countries. For this purpose, we choose a sample consists of 24 developing countries over the period 2011–2016. Also, we consider entrepreneurship as a demand-side factor and the lagged value of innovation and FDI as supply-side factors. The results show that, while entrepreneurship is statistically insignificant but the lagged value of innovation, FDI and institutional quality have a positive and significant impact on innovation. Also, findings show that the effect of the lagged value of innovation is more than the other factors. Furthermore, based on the viewpoint of Olsson (Journal of Economic Growth, 5(3), 253–275, 2000), which regards institutional quality as a structural variable, we found that the improvement in institutional quality makes a suitable groundwork for other variables to be effective in innovation activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent extensions to the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship (KSTE) show that the successful commercialization of new knowledge by incumbents depends on their absorptive capacities. For policy-makers focusing on increasing incumbents' innovative performance, the systematic reduction of knowledge filter through improved absorptive capacities thus becomes a crucial goal. While the general working mechanisms of knowledge filter have been analyzed within the KSTE framework, few institutional solutions to increase absorptive capacities have been put forth. This study provides an initial case study explaining a specific institutional framework fostering the systematic penetration of knowledge filters by incumbent firms in the case of German SMEs. Using a set of 177 in-depth interviews with firm representatives, the system of interrelated organizations, institutional arrangements, shared values, and economic incentives associated with the institutional structures for knowledge spillovers for German SMEs are described. I identify institutional characteristics connected to the dual system of vocational training, regulatory measures, and economic incentives mutually enforcing and fostering broad knowledge spillovers. This exploratory approach enables deriving hypotheses for the further study of knowledge filters as well as policy implications for the design of institutions increasing incumbents' absorptive capacities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focusing on universities whose faculty has little understanding of technology transfer and the commercialization of academic research, we provide a case study of such a university and argue that even some elementary and indirect form of entrepreneurial training can positively affect faculty technology transfer. In light of the above, we seek to contribute to the literature exploring what makes technology transfer programs at Universities successful and our unique contribution lies on elucidating the link between university technology transfer and science and technology entrepreneurial education (STEE). To this effect, we discuss ways to develop integration processes among STEE and technology transfer offices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how the quadruple helix (QH) innovation model functions in a regional renewable energy initiative in Uppsala, Sweden. The focus is on the collaboration between regional office representatives, researchers, consultants and civil society, and their involvement in the attempt to implement and commercialize an innovation within renewable energy for the renovation of an old bridge. The empirical material gathered for this study was based on interviews, conversations, and participant observation during workshops and meetings with different stakeholders. By applying a processual approach, this article illustrates how the QH configuration (university-industry-government and civil society) emerges and evolves, unfortunately into a failed collaboration and thus a closing down of a commercialization attempt. By analyzing interactions and events of the process, we discuss the coordination problems between the actors to better understand how the dynamics affect local governments' attempts to spur a more innovative climate in the region. In our conclusion, we discuss how the processual approach, when applied, can offer a better understanding of the uncertain development of QH projects in knowledge-based societies and economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurial intention (EI) is attracting research interest as a valid predictor of actual entrepreneurial activity, and a growing number of articles are approaching the subject both from theoretical and experimental perspectives. Motivation is considered the major driver of EIs. However, entrepreneurial barriers may hinder the formation of EIs and even cancel the realization of EIs into entrepreneurial activity. The constraints perceived by the prospective entrepreneurs (e.g., students) and the motives forming their intentions, analyzed in the literature, up to now, deliver some disparate findings about the significance and the relative power of the effects. The need for a unified instrument for the systematic investigation of the impact of barriers and motives on EIs is imperative. On the other hand, research on the EIs of students in the field of information technology (IT) is very rare, although the field consists a fertile ground for entrepreneurial activity and innovation. In order to fill this gap, a structured questionnaire was used to reveal the perceptions of entrepreneurial barriers and motivation, in a sample of 174 tertiary IT students. The data were subjected to statistical regression in order to identify causal relations between the barriers, motives, and EIs. The results indicated that the lack of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills have a major impact on EIs of students. On the contrary, self-motivation towards entrepreneurship acts as an antidote. Finally, the differences in the perception of barriers and motivation, between the two genders and role model groups, were also examined. The findings have valuable implications for educators in the IT field, due to the opportunities expected, in the context of Industry 4.0. Additionally, there are useful implications for policy makers, due to the ongoing economic crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the challenges of research collaboration from the perspective of academic researchers who engage in research collaboration with knowledge users. The study design was descriptive and comprised an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach made up of a survey of a proportionate stratified sample of academic researchers and key informants from two public universities in Ghana. On the basis of responses from 127 academics with collaborative research experience and 11 key informants, it was established through principal component analysis that collective assets, such as lack of common values and trust, followed by structural and positional factors, such as limited funding and inadequate infrastructure, were key challenges of research collaboration. The challenges of research collaboration point to the existence of clash of values between academics and knowledge users and to the absence of comprehensive national and institutional support systems for research collaboration. The persistence of the challenges will widen the knowledge filter in the economy and can eventually result in a Swedish paradox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship is defined as the effort to generate and create jobs and innovate leading to economic growth. Despite the importance that has been given to this phenomenon, inequalities regarding the ability to trigger and manage the entrepreneurial activity remain. This research aims to describe and account for the entrepreneurship levels, particularly in order to understand what leads certain countries’ individuals to display higher levels of initiative to manage or create a high-growth business. In order to achieve this goal, a research program that includes annual assessments of entrepreneurial activity levels in several countries has been used—The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), which is, currently, one of the main international research databases aiming to describe, analyse and compare the entrepreneurial process in a wide range of countries. The database studied in this work is the 2011 NES, containing 144 variables in which 136 are qualitative (97 ordinal qualitative and 39 nominal qualitative). The data were analysed transforming the ordinal qualitative variables in ordinal quantitative, where the answers were given in a Likert scale from 1 to 5. The sample of the database consists of 1852 national and regional entrepreneurship experts selected on the basis of reputation and experience (through a convenience sample approach). Our research used several multivariate analysis techniques, in particular the multiple linear regression analysis, the cluster analysis and the discriminant analysis. In general, our conclusions suggest that individuals who react quickly to opportunities seem to display better abilities of time management and are more willing to start a business. Our results also show that the national culture does not influence the individual ability of managing the personal life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies the profiles of technological entrepreneurs. Understanding what drives entrepreneurs can help policy design to incentivize entrepreneurship, support the development of better assistance for nascent businesses, and facilitate the matching between investors’ and entrepreneurs’ interests. Through the application of an online questionnaire, 325 Brazilian owners of technological startups answered their reasons to enterprise. The data was processed using Ward’s hierarchical clustering algorithm, generating four distinct clusters. The first, financial success entrepreneurs, are concerned about financial outcomes of their startups. The new challenges group seeks self-realization, innovation, and independence by means of their enterprises. Leaders are driven by the will to lead and motivate others, relegating other factors. Finally, there are pessimistic entrepreneurs, who rank all reasons lower than other entrepreneurs. These results highlight that even within the class of technological entrepreneurs, from the same country, there are sizeable groups with different factors regarding reasons to enterprise, shedding some light on conflicting results in the entrepreneurial motivation literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to develop elements of answers to the effect of adequate entrepreneurial activity that would have effects on economic growth. This work analyzes the relationship between entrepreneurship and economic growth for a panel of developing countries over the 2004-2011 periods. In this study, we used two measures of entrepreneurship: the new density and the potential of innovation. We estimated a growth function using the method of static and dynamic panel data. Our results show that the new density and growth are significantly and positively correlated. Our results also show that if the short-term impact of technological innovation on growth is negative, this effect is positive in the long term. This result confirms the theoretical predictions, namely the theory of spillage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research investigated the associations among the dimensions of behavioral beliefs, attitude toward entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial intention. Using a structural equation modeling approach with a sample of 227 Greek tertiary education students (114 males, 113 females), support is provided that entrepreneurial outcomes, viewed as rewards, are distinguished into intrinsic (intangible/psychological/ nonpecuniary) and extrinsic (tangible/physical/pecuniary). Our results show further that attitude toward entrepreneurship contains three separable components, one being instrumental or cognitive in nature, the other being experiential or affective, and the third representing opportunity costs, that is, the personal and financial sacrifices one is willing to incur for the sake of the entrepreneurial venture. Concerning intention for entrepreneurship, our findings support a two-factor structure that represents commitment to an entrepreneurial career and nascent entrepreneurship. Evidence is also found for the Fishbein and Ajzen's expectancy-value model of attitudes: that attitude toward entrepreneurship is predicted by the expectation that entrepreneurship will be followed by a given outcome, as well as the value that the individual assigns to that outcome. Moreover, our results reveal that the intrinsic rewards of entrepreneurship are stronger predictors of entrepreneurial attitude than extrinsic rewards and that the dimensions of attitude toward entrepreneurship exert a differential impact on entrepreneurial intention, with affective attitude appearing to be more strongly related to intention than instrumental attitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regions compete to bring wealth creation and high-paying jobs to their constituents through the creation of small start-ups. Different authors identify different factors that influence this activity leaving policy makers wondering about the right set of ingredients. These factors include many that are affected by the knowledge economy. To identify the essential ingredients, we studied 361 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the USA. We examined factors such as capital, education, engineering and science degrees, top business school presence, presence of other medium and large companies in the area, the number of incubators, high speed internet connectivity, creativity, population size, cluster formation, and the available workforce to assess their contribution to the creation of new businesses in nontech as well as high tech. Statistical tests indicate that factors such as, in further tests, technology maturation activities such as research, venture funding, and telecommunications infrastructure, were found to be important for technology startups. Attraction and creation of medium and large sized businesses helped the small start-ups in creating markets for their products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]