Innovations in Entrepreneurship Support: Alternatives, Opportunities and Future Agendas
Guest editors:
Oliver Mallett (Newcastle University) oliver.mallett@newcastle.ac.uk
Norin Arshed (Heriot-Watt University)
Robert Wapshott (University of Sheffield)
Aims and Scope
Entrepreneurship support for start-ups and growing businesses represents a booming industry in terms of public and private sector provision as innovative solutions are sought to unlock the potential of entrepreneurship to address a range of economic and social challenges. Seeking to contribute to ongoing debates about how to best achieve these aims, this special issue will bring together internationally-relevant empirical evidence and theoretical considerations on new and innovative forms of entrepreneurship support.
Policymakers across continents and contexts seek economic regeneration and vitality through entrepreneurship (Audretsch et al., 2007). A wide range of interventions have been made by governments, and associated agencies, to encourage and support enterprise, business start-up and growth (Bennett, 2014). Such interventions have sought to address challenges around social exclusion (Blackburn and Ram, 2006; Mallett and Wapshott, 2015; OECD/EC, 2015) in addition to economic under-performance within industries (Storey, 2003) and geographical areas (Greene et al, 2007; Huggins et al, 2015). Despite the significant scale of many such efforts (Richard, 2008), persistent concerns have questioned the ability of politicians and civil servants to intervene effectively in the support of entrepreneurs (Arshed et al., 2014; Bridge, 2010; Shane, 2009; Smallbone et al., 2002).
However, the significance of apparent shortcomings in effective entrepreneurship support from government must be assessed in relation to the wide range of non-governmental provision available in many markets (Gibb, 2000; Mallett, 2016). Everyday business information and advice can be accessed through membership organisations (Bennett, 1995), personal networks (Ceci and Iubatti, 2012), universities (Pugh et al, 2016; Smallbone et al, 2015) and professional business services such as accountants (Jarvis and Rigby, 2012; Marriott and Marriott, 2000). The scale of non-governmental provision in some contexts has led to the emergence of an ‘enterprise industry’ (Greene et al, 2007; Mallett, 2016) comprising advisers ready to offer guidance and support on how to start, grow and sustain successful businesses.
Among the volume of support, advice and guidance available, it can be difficult to identify instances where innovations in entrepreneurship support are proving effective and to which businesses. Such examples are likely to be rooted in a specific context and attuned to the needs of particular stakeholders (Dennis 2011a, 2011b) rather than a one-size-fits-all approach (Bennett, 2014; Zahra and Wright, 2011). This relates to the need to consider new ways of considering how to develop or facilitate these forms of support, for example through anchor institutions (Smallbone et al, 2015) or as entrepreneurial ecosystems (Spigel, 2015) and this raises important questions about the ease of transplanting innovations from one context for implementation in another. There is a vital role for robust academic assessment, evaluation and engagement to identify productive ways forward.
The special issue seeks to gather together insights into the supports for entrepreneurship located in a range of contexts. It invites submissions that consider international examples of innovations in entrepreneurship support with a view to establishing fresh ideas and insights that may be of wider application.
We invite empirical and theoretical articles that engage with any of the following (or related) areas of interest to better understanding entrepreneurship support:
– Key actors and stakeholders in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship support and entrepreneurial ecosystems
– Examinations of the key resources, contexts, capabilities and activities for the innovative support of entrepreneurship
– Supporting entrepreneurs facing exclusion, discrimination and other forms of disadvantage
– Alternative forms of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship support, including but not limited to social entrepreneurship and collective entrepreneurship
– International comparative studies
– Effective evaluation of innovations in entrepreneurship support
– Critical perspectives that question underlying assumptions in entrepreneurship support
For initial enquires and expressions of interest please contact:
Oliver Mallett oliver.mallett@newcastle.ac.uk
Timeline
1 April 2017: Call for Papers / 30 April 2018: Submission Deadline / 2019: Publication
To Submit
For author guidelines, please visit http://emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=ijebr. All submissions must be made via the ScholarOne submission portal: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijebr.
References
Arshed, N., Carter, S. and Mason, C. (2014). The ineffectiveness of entrepreneurship policy: is policy formulation to blame? Small Business Economics, 43(3), 639-659.
Audretsch, D.B., Grilo, I. and Thurik, A.R. (2007). Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship Policy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Bennett, R.J. (1995). The logic of local business associations: an analysis of voluntary chambers of commerce. Journal of Public Policy, 15(3), 251-279.
Bennett, R.J. (2014) Entrepreneurship, small business and public policy: Evolution and revolution. London: Routledge.
Blackburn, R. and Ram, M. (2006) Fix or fixation? The contributions and limitations of entrepreneurship and small firms to combating social exclusion, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 18: 73–89.
Bridge, S. (2010). Rethinking Enterprise Policy. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Ceci, F. and Iubatti, D. (2012). Personal relationships and innovation diffusion in SME networks: A content analysis approach. Research Policy, 41(3), 565-579.
Dennis Jr, W.J. (2011a). Entrepreneurship, small business and public policy levers. Journal of Small Business Management, 49(1), 92-106.
Dennis Jr, W.J. (2011b). Entrepreneurship, small business and public policy levers. Journal of Small Business Management, 49(2), 149-162.
Gibb, A. (2000). SME policy, academic research and the growth of ignorance, mythical concepts, myths, assumptions, rituals and confusions. International Small Business Journal, 18(3), 13-35.
Greene, F.J., Mole, K.F. and Storey, D.J. (2007). Three decades of enterprise culture: Entrepreneurship, economic regeneration and public policy. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Huggins, R., Morgan, B. and Williams, N. (2015). Regional entrepreneurship and the evolution of public policy and governance: Evidence from three regions. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 22(3), 473-511.
Jarvis, R. and Rigby, M. (2012). The provision of human resources and employment advice to small and medium-sized enterprises: the role of small and medium-sized practices of accountants. International Small Business Journal, 30(8), 944-956.
Mallett, O. (2016). Business support as regulation: exploring the interactions of external influences on SMEs. 39th Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference, Paris on 27-28 October, 2016.
Mallett, O. and Wapshott, R. (2015). Making sense of self-employment in late career: understanding the identity work of olderpreneurs. Work, Employment and Society, 29(2), 250-266.
Marriott, N. and Marriott, P. (2000). Professional accountants and the development of a management accounting service for the small firm: barriers and possibilities. Management Accounting Research, 11(4), 475-492.
OECD/EC (2015) The Missing Entrepreneurs 2015: Policies for Self-employment and Entrepreneurship, OECD Publishing, Paris (in Association with the European Commission) DOI:10.1787/9789264226418-en
Pugh, R., Hamilton, E., Jack, S. and Gibbons, A. (2016). A step into the unknown: universities and the governance of regional economic development. European Planning Studies, 24(7), 1357-1373.
Richard, D. (2008). Small Business and Government: The Richard Report. Available at: www.conservatives.com/pdf/document-richardreport-2008.pdf Accessed 27/09/2016
Shane, S. (2009) Why encouraging more people to become entrepreneurs is bad public policy. Small Business Economics, 33(2), 141-149.
Smallbone, D., Baldock, R. and Burgess, S. (2002). Targeted support for high-growth start-ups: some policy issues. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 20(2), 195-209.
Smallbone, D., Kitching, J., Blackburn, R. and Mosavi, S. (2015). Anchor institutions and small firms in the UK. UK Commission for Employment and Skills. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/414390/Anchor_institutions_and_small_firms.pdf [Accessed 23/02/2017]
Storey, D.J. (2003). Entrepreneurship, small and medium sized enterprises and public policies. In Handbook of Entrepreneurship Research, Acs, Z.J. and Audretsch, D.B (Eds). New York: Springer, pp. 473-511.
Spigel, B. (2015). The relational organization of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. EarlyView
Zahra, S.A. and Wright, M. (2011). Entrepreneurship’s next act. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 25(4), 67-83.
Oliver Mallett, Newcastle University
Oliver is currently conducting research into the interactions between different forms of small business support. His broader research interests relate to employment relationships in SMEs and enterprise policy. He has previously published research on the challenges faced by discriminated against and excluded entrepreneurs.
Norin Arshed, Heriot-Watt University
Norin’s research focuses on enterprise policy, entrepreneurship, SMEs and policy-making. Institutional theory is the theoretical lens used to frame her work both at the macro and micro-levels. She is involved with a number of stakeholders in undertaking her research: UK government departments, numerous prominent think thanks in London; Rio de Janeiro University, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Japan); Industry Canada and many others.
Robert Wapshott, University of Sheffield
Robert’s research interests centre on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs. His research interest in SMEs focuses employment relationships and practices. He is also engaged in the area of entrepreneurship education through funded projects including STARTIFY7 and OpenMind.