Entrepreneurship and the Growth of Firms

Understanding firm growth can be viewed as the Holy Grail by academics as well as policymakers and practitioners. Entrepreneurship and the Growth of Firms is an authoritative, analytical and scholarly integration of theoretical, definitional and methodological debates. Building on their innovative doctoral studies, Davidsson, Delmar and Wiklund provide a fresh and insightful review of the knowledge base relating to the firm growth phenomenon. They critique studies that explore long laundry lists of factors presumed to "explain" firm growth. The following pertinent research questions are explored within multivariate statistical frameworks: "how do firms grow" and "why do firms grow"? The profound contribution of this book is that we find in one place a discussion of the theoretical, definitional, measurement, analytical as well as policy and practitioner issues relating to firm growth and performance. The nice blend of theory, practice and appropriate interpretation of empirical results will be well received by a broad spectrum of readers. Drawing upon their experience, the authors suggest pitfalls that should be avoided when replicating and extending firm growth studies, and they provide useful directions to explore firm growth at several levels of analysis.' - Paul Westhead, University of Warwick, UK `Three of the leading experts on business growth offer a comprehensive and interesting coverage of the inter-relationship between entrepreneurship and firm growth from a perspective developed over 16 years of researching the topic. Although individually and collectively their work has already had a substantial impact on the field, I found this collection of works to provide both an in-depth discussion of important aspects of firm growth within a broader context.' - Dean A. Shepherd, Indiana University, Bloomington, US `This fine collection of papers written in the famous Swedish scholarly tradition is a "must read" for theorists and practitioners interested in the main engine of economic growth, entrepreneurship.' - Roy Thurik, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 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 fEntrepreneurship and the Growth of Firmsocussing 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.