This insightful and comprehensive Research Handbook explores the concept of start-up incubation ecosystems and investigates the various factors that interact to provide a nurturing environment suitable for the creation and successful development of start-ups. Chapters employ a range of approaches for the study of incubation ecosystems, including literature reviews, theoretical studies, and empirical research featuring both quantitative and qualitative methods. An international team of authors analyze data from a diverse range of countries to cover topics including: multi-level approaches to incubation ecosystems; start-up support mechanisms such as incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces; and the role of organizations involved in incubation ecosystems such as universities, government agencies and multinational companies. The Handbook thus illustrates the critical part played by the early development of start-ups within entrepreneurial ecosystems. Scholars and doctoral students working in entrepreneurship and innovation will find this Handbook invaluable to their understanding of start-up incubation ecosystems and in illuminating future research agendas. It will also prove useful to practitioners and policymakers working with start-ups and organizations that support them. Contributors include: B.W. Amo, C. Bellavitis, P. Benneworth, P.M. Bican, A. Billstroem, J.J. Bragelien, M. Breivik-Meyer, A. Brem, E. Carlsson, T.H. Clausen, C.M. DaSilva, M. Good, J. Grande, M. Gulbrandsen, J.O. Hansen, R.R. Hermann, E.J. Isaksen, A. Jensen, A.R. Johnson, E.J.B. Jorgensen, K. Kassel, M. Knockaert, L. Kolvereid, M. Landoni, K. Lesniak, A. Mariussen, K.E. Masyn, A. McKelvie, K. Messeghem, S. Mitchell, D. Modic, N. Nguyen, G. Nonet, N. Nordling, A. Novotny, A. O'Connor, I.B. Pettersen, R. Pugh, E. Rasmussen, T. Ratinho, S. Saarenketo, S.R. Sardeshmukh, M. Sargent, R.M. Smith, R. Sorheim, O. Straub, C. Theodoraki, E. Thomas, L. Torkkeli, E. van der Lingen, H. Velt, K.H. Voldsund, J. Wiklund, T. Yoshioka-Kobayashi

What characterizes the phenomenon of (small) firm growth, and how can it best be studied? Why and how do firms grow - and why don't they? Is firm growth externally determined or the result of managers' visions and actions? What are the different paths that firms follow in order to achieve high growth? Is growth evidence of entrepreneurship - and is growth always desirable? In this book, three leading scholars have integrated some of their most important research in order to answer these questions on firm growth. The result is a volume that builds on studies of many thousands of firms in several different projects. It offers deep insights into the firm growth phenomenon and how it can be studied. This research-based study promises to be a valuable resource for academics and students focussing on business and management, and, more specifically, entrepreneurship. Researchers who aspire to design and conduct further studies leading to deeper and better established insights into firm growth will also find the book invaluable, as will those who encourage and assist firm growth as part of their profession.

What characterizes the phenomenon of (small) firm growth, and how can it best be studied? Why and how do firms grow - and why don't they? Is firm growth externally determined or the result of managers' visions and actions? What are the different paths that firms follow in order to achieve high growth? Is growth evidence of entrepreneurship - and is growth always desirable? In this book, three leading scholars have integrated some of their most important research in order to answer these questions on firm growth. The result is a volume that builds on studies of many thousands of firms in several different projects. It offers deep insights into the firm growth phenomenon and how it can be studied. This research-based study promises to be a valuable resource for academics and students focussing on business and management, and, more specifically, entrepreneurship. Researchers who aspire to design and conduct further studies leading to deeper and better established insights into firm growth will also find the book invaluable, as will those who encourage and assist firm growth as part of their profession.

The authors of this comprehensive study address why it is that some small firms perform well and others don't, and whether high-performing firms share characteristics that distinguish them from low-performing firms. By exploring bundles of resources and their interaction with other factors, the authors explain important small business outcomes such as growth, performance, entrepreneurial activity, and the chance of receiving debt or equity capital. The authors find that while resources may be valuable, it is essential that small businesses have the processes to facilitate the manipulation of resources into value-creating strategies. Rather than reaching the conclusion that more is always better, the authors tease out the conditions under which certain resources are particularly valuable, as well as the conditions under which these and other resources are less valuable. The resource factors examined range from aspects of the human capital of the small business manager, such as length of education or prior experience with business start-ups, to social capital variables and firm-level resources, such as access to financial capital and competence. Representing leading-edge research across several levels of analysis, this volume will be a useful resource for scholars and students of entrepreneurship and small business, as well as for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Policymakers will find the volume helpful in understanding the effect policies may have on small businesses and the subsequent impact on the economic performance of a region.

This insightful and comprehensive Research Handbook explores the concept of start-up incubation ecosystems and investigates the various factors that interact to provide a nurturing environment suitable for the creation and successful development of start-ups. Chapters employ a range of approaches for the study of incubation ecosystems, including literature reviews, theoretical studies, and empirical research featuring both quantitative and qualitative methods. An international team of authors analyze data from a diverse range of countries to cover topics including: multi-level approaches to incubation ecosystems; start-up support mechanisms such as incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces; and the role of organizations involved in incubation ecosystems such as universities, government agencies and multinational companies. The Handbook thus illustrates the critical part played by the early development of start-ups within entrepreneurial ecosystems. Scholars and doctoral students working in entrepreneurship and innovation will find this Handbook invaluable to their understanding of start-up incubation ecosystems and in illuminating future research agendas. It will also prove useful to practitioners and policymakers working with start-ups and organizations that support them. Contributors include: B.W. Amo, C. Bellavitis, P. Benneworth, P.M. Bican, A. Billstroem, J.J. Bragelien, M. Breivik-Meyer, A. Brem, E. Carlsson, T.H. Clausen, C.M. DaSilva, M. Good, J. Grande, M. Gulbrandsen, J.O. Hansen, R.R. Hermann, E.J. Isaksen, A. Jensen, A.R. Johnson, E.J.B. Jorgensen, K. Kassel, M. Knockaert, L. Kolvereid, M. Landoni, K. Lesniak, A. Mariussen, K.E. Masyn, A. McKelvie, K. Messeghem, S. Mitchell, D. Modic, N. Nguyen, G. Nonet, N. Nordling, A. Novotny, A. O'Connor, I.B. Pettersen, R. Pugh, E. Rasmussen, T. Ratinho, S. Saarenketo, S.R. Sardeshmukh, M. Sargent, R.M. Smith, R. Sorheim, O. Straub, C. Theodoraki, E. Thomas, L. Torkkeli, E. van der Lingen, H. Velt, K.H. Voldsund, J. Wiklund, T. Yoshioka-Kobayashi

This collection of articles by an internationally recognized team of authors is a welcome addition to the literature on firm growth. The authors, singly and together, have previously made important contributions with regard to frameworks for understanding growth, as well as cutting-edge empirical research on the actual growth process. In this volume, the authors bring previous research up-to-date, providing a critical look at what has been published in the last decade and offering new theoretically informed insights in how and why firms grow.' - Howard Aldrich, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USThis insightful volume presents a collection of innovative works by two of the leading researchers of firm growth. The studies extend previous research by providing stronger theoretical underpinnings and using longitudinal databases that can separate in time the firms' growth from its presumed causes. They also break new ground by examining different modes of growth, such as sales growth vs. employment growth, and organic growth vs. acquisition-based expansion. Further, the studies investigate the drivers of firm growth and take a critical look at the effects, such as under what circumstances high growth is associated with high profitability. The issue of how firm growth is achieved and managed, and what consequences it has for different stakeholders is both theoretically interesting and practically important. The book will strongly appeal to academics of entrepreneurship, small business management and strategy. Contributors: L. Achtenhagen, G.N. Chandler, P. Davidsson, F. Delmar, J. Fitzsimmons, S. Girma, A. Lockett, A. McKelvie, L. Naldi, H. Patzelt, D.A. Shepherd, P. Steffens, J. Wiklund

"Entrepreneurship research often presupposes similarities between national contexts despite evidence of extensive differences. This timely study focuses on the important issue of new venture creation using a variety of data sources, methods and theories." "The authors demonstrate the factors that aid or hinder new venture creation in a number of settings. The empirical context underpinning this research is Sweden - a small open economy with a renowned quality of data that allows important research questions to be uniquely addressed with great concern for relevance and policy implications."--BOOK JACKET.

This collection of articles by an internationally recognized team of authors is a welcome addition to the literature on firm growth. The authors, singly and together, have previously made important contributions with regard to frameworks for understanding growth, as well as cutting-edge empirical research on the actual growth process. In this volume, the authors bring previous research up-to-date, providing a critical look at what has been published in the last decade and offering new theoretically informed insights in how and why firms grow.' - Howard Aldrich, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USThis insightful volume presents a collection of innovative works by two of the leading researchers of firm growth. The studies extend previous research by providing stronger theoretical underpinnings and using longitudinal databases that can separate in time the firms' growth from its presumed causes. They also break new ground by examining different modes of growth, such as sales growth vs. employment growth, and organic growth vs. acquisition-based expansion. Further, the studies investigate the drivers of firm growth and take a critical look at the effects, such as under what circumstances high growth is associated with high profitability. The issue of how firm growth is achieved and managed, and what consequences it has for different stakeholders is both theoretically interesting and practically important. The book will strongly appeal to academics of entrepreneurship, small business management and strategy. Contributors: L. Achtenhagen, G.N. Chandler, P. Davidsson, F. Delmar, J. Fitzsimmons, S. Girma, A. Lockett, A. McKelvie, L. Naldi, H. Patzelt, D.A. Shepherd, P. Steffens, J. Wiklund

Among the major ways researchers think about research topics and approaches, the lesson of these ten chapters by many of the new breed of European entrepreneurship researchers is that those values and world-views which have traditionally been the hallmark of the European approach, remain evident as the underpinnings of the new breed approach. In doing so, the field of entrepreneurship will grow in terms of the range of ideas, data sources, and techniques. It will also grow more competitive, initially through the addition of new people, but as their ideas begin to gain traction, as differing worldviews and approaches come to the fore, and perhaps sometimes into conflict. However, that sort of exchange, one which broadens each participant, is what science and academia is all about, and the new breed, through efforts such as the volume you are holding, are working to initiate that process.
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*Highlights "new breed" thinking
*Focuses on Europeanentrepreneurship