The purpose of this paper is to show how institutional and evolutionary economics provide better insights as to whysome firms survive and others do not than does neoclassical economics. At the heart of the evolutionary theory isthe view that new firms are a manifestation of diversity and that...

The level of entrepreneurship differs considerably across countries and periods. Both thecauses and consequences of entrepreneurship are a matter of extensive scientific debate aswell as of great policy importance. A high level of entrepreneurial activity is assumed andshown to contribute to...

Despite the pervasive phenomenon of scale economies the majority of firms hasalways been small firms. The emergence of small firms as a means of economic development on both sides of the Atlantic has been one of the major new topics of economic policy since the 1980s. This has drawn renewed...

The benefits of family ownership and control of firms are at the center of the family firm debate. Previous studies have used either family ownership or management as proxies for control. Both indicators are off the mark, as they do not measure "decision control" as intended by the theory of the...