REVIEWER APPRECIATION ISSUE

Abstract

As I have stated on various occasions, the JDE depends on our numerous reviewers from many countries in which the Journal has a presence. Without thorough, constructive and timely reviews from our area experts, our publication would not be possible. I am grateful to you all! To show our appreciation for the work our reviewers do, we have established a Reviewer of the Year Award. It is my pleasure to announce that the recipient of this Award for 2011 is Professor Howard Van Auken of Iowa State University. Howard has done a stellar job! I think we actually overworked him! As a token of our appreciation, Howard will receive a one-year subscription to the JDE. Thank you, Howard! The March 2012 issue includes six outstanding articles. The first article in the issue is titled Nascent Entrepreneurs and the Transition to Entrepreneurship: Why Do People Start New Businesses? by Stelios Zanakis, Maija Renko and Amanda Bullough. To answer the central question, the authors examine motivation and cognition, knowledge and experience and social support. The authors find that experienced, persistent, confident individuals, motivated mostly by non-financial outcomes, perceiving support from their social contacts and institutional environment, are likely to make the transition to a successful business. Lynn Neely and Howard Van Auken present us with An Examination of Small Firm Bootstrap Financing and Use of Debt. Bootstrap financing helps alleviate liquidity issues by providing small firms additional sources of capital when more traditional sources are not accessible. The authors find that use of shortand long-term debt capital is directly associated with the use of bootstrap financing sources. They draw implications of their findings for small firm owners, consultants and educators. CathyYang Liu examines the causes and dynamics in the creation of business ventures by minority nascent entrepreneurs. In her contribution to this issue, titled The Causes and Dynamics of Minority Entrepreneurial Entry, the author reminds us that minority business enterprises are an important source of job creation and innovation in the U.S. economy, as well as economic development engines in their respective communities. The article helps us close the gap of our understanding of the unique motivations behind these enterprises, their business strategies and their plans in the early stage of their venture formation. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship Vol. 17, No. 1 (2012) 1202001 (2 pages) © World Scientific Publishing Company DOI: 10.1142/S1084946712020013