Entrepreneurship, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and the Macroeconomy

This collection examines the role of the entrepreneur in the development of the US economy.

This book was originally published in 1999. At this time, the US economy had recently restructured itself, moving away from an industrial economy towards one based on information, while the European Union and Japan were left to worry about rising government deficits, inflexible businesses, persistent unemployment, and workers inadequately trained for the information age. Why did the US economy move beyond its chief competitors? This collection suggests that at least some of the answers to the pattern of divergent development can be found in the role of the entrepreneur. By examining the process that entrepreneurs play in the economy, the essays in this volume make a fundamental contribution to our understanding of the macroeconomy. Each chapter clarifies the role of entrepreneur in economic theory, the function of small and medium-size enterprises that they found and build and the impact of the innovations introduced on employment, productivity, and economic growth.

Introduction and overview: 1. The linkages between entrepreneurship, SMEs and the macroeconomy Zoltan J. Acs, Bo Carlsson and Charlie Karlsson; Part I. Entrepreneurship, Industrial Dynamics and the Macroeconomy: 2. Entrepreneurship and the theory of the firm Mark Casson; 3. Entrepreneurship, and economic restructuring: an evolutionary view David Audretsch; 4. Business volatility: source or symptom of economic growth? Paul D. Reynolds; 5. Industry structure, entrepreneurship, and the macroeconomy: a comparison of Ohio and Sweden, 1975–1995 Pontus Braunerhjelm and Bo Carlsson; Part II. Financing Entrepreneurship and SMEs: 6. Small business cessation: failure to learn by doing? Robert Cressey; 7. Capital structure at inception and the short-run performance of micro firms Gavin C. Reid; 8. Resource allocation, incentives, and control: the importance of venture capital in financing entrepreneurial firms Paul A. Gompers; Part III. Job Creation and Destruction: 9. Job creation and destruction by employer size and age: cyclical dynamics John Haltiwanger; 10. SMEs and job creation during a recession Per Davidsson, Leif Lindmark and Christer Oloffson; 11. Job flows of firms in traditional services Luuk Klop and Roy Thurik; Part IV. Innovation, Productivity and Growth: 12. Innovation in UK SMEs: causes and consequences for firm failure and acquisition Andy Cosh, Alan Hughes and Eric Wood; 13. Productivity growth and firm size distribution Zoltan J. Acs, Randal Morck and Bernard Yeung.

Why did the US economy move beyond its chief competitors? This 1999 collection suggests the pattern of divergent development was partly reliant upon the role of the entrepreneur. By examining the process that entrepreneurs play in the economy, these essays make a fundamental contribution to our understanding of the macroeconomy.