Machine generated contents note: 1 Technology and entrepreneurship 1 -- 2 Knowledge, innovation and firm size 24 -- 3 Local geographic spillovers 44 -- 4 Sectoral characteristics 63 -- 5 Innovation of entrepreneurial firms 74 -- 6 Capital structure, innovation and firm size 98 -- 7 Employment...

This chapter surveys the history of modern economic growth and suggests a number of mechanisms that drove the unprecedented technological thrust that account for the discontinuities of economic modernity. The Industrial Revolution and the subsequent developments did not just raise the level of...