Knowledge-intensive Entrepreneurship Research Articles

Creating and sustaining knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship * Managing Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship by MaureenMcKelvey and Astrid Heidemann Lassen

Creating and sustaining knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship * Managing Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship by MaureenMcKelvey and Astrid Heidemann Lassen

Entrepreneurial propensity of innovation systems: Theory, methodology and evidence

This paper develops theoretically, methodologically and empirically the notion of the entrepreneurial propensity of innovation system by integrating knowledge intensive entrepreneurship (KIE) and innovation system (IS) concepts. It first uses a composite index methodology to measure knowledge intensive entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial opportunities at the national level. It then applies cluster analysis based on composite indexes for the EU countries in order to group them by entrepreneurial opportunities. We also assess the influence of a system's complementary activities on the emergence of KIE by partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM) method. PLS demonstrates that the EPIS is statistically sound concept and that KIE is affected by market, technological and institutional opportunities. The paper provides empirical evidence that institutions affect knowledge-intensive entrepreneurial experimentation not directly but via technology and markets. KIE is market driven process; however, its overall effects are determined not solely by market opportunities but by interaction of market with technological and institutional opportunities. Hence, we show that KIE is a systemic feature of IS and that new knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurship are inseparable elements of a dynamic IS.

Unfolding autotelic capabilities in low-tech knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship

This paper tries to explicate the nature and dimensions of the newly presented autotelic capabilities (ACs). The relevant framework introduces a comprehensive set of entrepreneurial dynamic capabilities which depend on the entrepreneurial teams’ characteristics, can be harnessed to a certain extent, and lead to the creation of entrepreneurial activities focused on novel knowledge-intensive ideas which challenge and change the existing business ecosystems or create new ones. Although still in their infancy, we propose that ACs can be defined and more clearly understood through three dimensions, notably bricolage, improvisational and transcendental capabilities. ACs are responsible for the shaping of emergent conditions by creating and not simply discovering opportunities. They engage in exploration out of the boundaries of the firm and usually even of the industry they belong which is a major role of ACs in building initial competitive advantages. The framework applies for low-tech but knowledge-intensive ...

Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship and Opportunities in Two Polish Industries

Following the broad overview of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (KIE), or new firm creation in industries considered to be science-based or to use research and development (RD their effectiveness in obtaining public assistance is also above average. The software industry is a young and dynamically growing one everywhere, and Poland is no exception. Companies in the industry tend to be young and very small. In Poland, they are very focused on the domestic market and play the role of 'knowledge customizers' rather than 'knowledge creators'; in an international comparison, even with other post-communist countries in East Central Europe, the Polish software industry appears to have a low R&D intensity. Companies in the machine tool industry are rather larger and somewhat older, and the industry is stable rather than growing in terms of turnover (and declining in terms of employment). Perhaps surprisingly, they are also more innovative and somewhat more export-oriented. However, an international comparison reveals firms in both of these Polish industries to be less innovative than their counterparts in other European countries.

Innovation Systems and Knowledge-Intensive Enterpreneurship: A Country Case Study of Poland

This study surveys the current state of affairs in Poland with regard to the development of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (KIE), or new firm creation in industries considered to be science-based or to use research and development (RD moreover, we observe a significant degree of internationalization of innovation-related cooperation. Another optimistic development is that the level of activity of venture capitalists seems to be fairly high in Poland considering the relatively low degree of development of capital markets offering VC investors exit opportunities. Moreover, after almost two decades of decline in the share of R&D spending in GDP, there are signs that this is beginning to rise, and that businesses are beginning to spend more on R&D. While demand-side problems continue to be significant barriers for the development of KIE, due to the relatively low level of education and GDP per capita in the country, the trends here are optimistic, with high rates of economic growth and improvements in the level of education of younger generations. Significant improvement is still needed in the area of intellectual property protection.

Book Reviews

Markus Taussig of National University of Singapore reviews “Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship: The Birth, Growth and Demise of Entrepreneurial Firms” by Frédéric Delmar and Karl Wennberg. The EconLit abstract of the reviewed work begins, “Investigates the entrepreneurial processes of new firms' emergence, growth, and eventual demise and exit in the modern knowledge-intensive economy. Discusses the role of entrepreneurship and new firm dynamics for economic development; the knowledge intensive sector--theoretical concerns, research design, and data; the birth of new firms--the geography connection; firm exit; de novo and spinout start-ups--the organizational connection; and firm growth. Delmar is at EMLYON Business School and the Research Institute of Industrial Economics. Wennberg is Assistant Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics. Index.”

Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship and innovation systems. Evidence from Europe * Franco Malerba (ed.)

Knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship and innovation systems. Evidence from Europe * Franco Malerba (ed.)

Launching students into enterprise: experiences with technology as a launching platform

The central issue in this contribution is how knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship can be stimulated when the driver is purely a technology push. The context of this study is the period December 1999 – December 2000 when the 'new economy' was at its peak. At that time an innovation was ready to be launched in The Netherlands: Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), enabling the use of internet on a mobile phone. It was decided to make use of the momentum and stimulate entrepreneurship among the student community of the University of Twente. We will position this activity in the 'mobile' value chain and in the value chain for technology transfer. We describe the WAP launching platform, its actors and activities and give a short characterisation of the five companies that were launched through this activity.

KNOWLEDGE INTENSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NETWORKS: TOWARDS A MULTI-LEVEL/MULTI DIMENSIONAL APPROACH

KNOWLEDGE INTENSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NETWORKS: TOWARDS A MULTI-LEVEL/MULTI DIMENSIONAL APPROACH

Science parks: practical and successful cases

The Stanford University experience in California, which became the foundation for the Silicon Valley, was not rooted in any particular economic theory. Indeed, the originators of these and related concepts of economic development for the entire northern California region were engineers, not economists, urban planners or politicians. But that was in the 1950s. From these practical experiences, economic theory developed (see "Science Parks theory and background"). What the founders of science parks foresaw, however, was the need to link basic and theoretical research to the real world that is, the world of commerce, trade and business. This link was good for R&D and was equally good for the placement of students directly into industry. And in many cases, the students formed their own firms and hence become "self-employed". Today, science parks are seen as a solution to the complex problems of economic development, under-employment, job creation, corporate downsizing, and new business development. Thus, science parks receive considerable attention and financial support from local, regional and national governments. Over the decades, research, technology, industrial and science parks were established close to universities in various US cities as well as in other industrialised nations. For the most part, theory followed or mimicked practice. As a report from Twente University in Holland put it, "The knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship flourishing in the Twente region did not develop as the result of a master plan. Nobody ever sat down and plotted out how it would all come together. The Twente Concept is the result of an organic development process - not a "revolution", but an "evolution" - that retained everything that was good and discarded what was wrong". It is precisely this issue of economic development that will be explored in this paper. The hypothesis is made that we now know enough about economic and business development to formulate a theoretical perspective on science parks. With that understanding, we can, therefore, explore and formulate strategies, plans and policies on how research and development can be converted into new businesses, support and assist entrepreneurship, provide programs that connect regional economic development while being concerned for the environment, and expand networks into international collaborations. This paper explores all the commercialisation of new technologies and provides some guidance into the further practical levels of business creation and therefore economic development for regions and communities.

Robinson's Economics of Imperfect Competition

Robinson's Economics of Imperfect Competition