If you only have time for one article from today’s Research Roundup—and especially if you don’t have the patience for something technical—make it the framework for thinking about entrepreneurship laid out by Henrekson and Sanandaji in the introductory chapter to Institutional Entrepreneurship (2011). Here the editors set up a taxonomy that hinges on whether entrepreneurial activities actually create wealth (are “productive”), as well as whether they adhere to, evade, or alter prevailing institutions. The definitions are rich enough to classify Washington insiders (including some who might frequent this blog) as “entrepreneurs” whose innovations include not business models but “altering” political contributions (read: lobbying) for destructive rent-seeking or broad social benefit. Hanrekson and Sanandaji illustrate their framework with a diverse group of articles discussing archetypical “productive abiding entrepreneurs” (think Silicon Valley), the oligarchs of Russia, and even the Sicilian mafia. We look forward to the release of their volume.
Another paper on entrepreneurship, from Temple’s Delgado, Harvard’s Porter, and Northwestern’s Stern, dives into the impact of geographic/industry clusters on the level of new business creation and start-up employment. And a wealth of papers—ranging from the highly theoretical to a concrete discussion of the Oracle/Sun decision in the European Union—tackle competition. Click through to the full post to see the set of abstracts on these and other topics.
