An extensive amount of studies have been devoted to the importance of the creative process. Creativity is critical to research and in particular to innovation, a key feature of economic competitiveness. Most of the previous studies have dealt with the creativity of individuals, the creativity of...

This paper analyzes the relationship between exporters, spin-outs and firm performance. A large body of research has shown that exporters perform better than non-exporters. But are also firms spawn out from exporters better than other new firms in terms of survival, productivity and growth?...

Despite broad agreement on the strategic role of SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) in industrial renewal processes, the lack of systematized and comprehensive information on the nature and level of small innovative firms is striking. This bias is partly explained by an empirical shadow...

This paper presents the results of a pan-Nordic study to explore how small and medium-size enterprises use IPR. It is a pilot study that demonstrates a commonly developed approach designed to overcome the barriers that hinder study of IPR use by small firms. The pilot study focuses particularly...

In recent decades the world has witnessed the emergence of a global knowledge economy. For example, the evolution in recent decades of the developed economies has been accompanied by a regional shift in economic activity away from traditional industrial regions to new agglomerations of high...

The entrepreneur is an elusive character in economic theory due to the difficulty of providing an accurate description. It appears impossible to produce a single definition of entrepreneurship and most theoretical approaches yield operational difficulties. By the same token, most operational...

According to Schumpeter, the creative process of economic development can be divided into three distinguishable stages of invention, innovation (commercialization) and imitation. We show why there is a rationale for the Schumpeterian entrepreneur to also include the inventor in the innovation...