The Entrepreneurial Society

In the depiction of the post-World War II economy, two factors mattered for economic growth: capital and labor. Economists were thus focused on macroeconomic policy, in order to induce investment in capital, while social institutions like education were oriented towards producing a labor force equipped to work in an economy consisting of large-scale factories. However, in the leading developed economies, globalization and technology have triggered a shift away from capital, which can be moved to lower-cost locations through downsizing and outsourcing of employment, and towards knowledge. Audretsch argues in this book that the entrepreneurial economy is the strategic response to this shift. In this economy, a new growth policy has emerged, focusing on promoting knowledge capital and entrepreneurship capital with programs like incubators, science parks, and start-up programs. In addition, knowledge-based geographic clusters have arisen, like Silicon Valley, Cambridge, and Bangalore. This book will provide a lens for understanding and interpreting the emergence of entrepreneurship policy. Audretsch will make connections between entrepreneurship and economic growth at the levels of individual firms and entire regions. He concludes that entrepreneurship contributes to economic growth by serving as a conduit for knowledge spillovers, injecting competition into the market for new ideas, and increasing the amount of diversity. This book should appeal to researchers and students in developmental economics.