International Entrepreneurship: Value Creation Across National Borders Defended on Thursday, 13 November 2008

This book investigates antecedents and outcomes of international entrepreneurship. International entrepreneurship as a field of research involves both research into entrepreneurship in multiple countries (cross-country comparisons of the nature and extent of entrepreneurial activity) and research into cross-border entrepreneurship (international activity of small and medium-sized enterprises and new ventures). Entrepreneurship is considered to be an important mechanism for national economic development e.g. through the generation of innovations and employment. However, considerable differences exist between countries in the extent to which entrepreneurship is innovation- or growth-oriented and consequently in the extent to which entrepreneurship contributes positively to national economic development. Therefore, it is essential for scientists, policy makers and entrepreneurs, to gain insight into the factors that affect the emergence of (various types of) entrepreneurship and into the economic outcomes of (various types of) entrepreneurship. This book is devoted to examining such issues, with a specific focus on cross-border entrepreneurship. The chapters included in this book address various research themes, such as the relationship between international trade and innovation, the extent to which foreign direct investment and international trade are sources of knowledge spillovers, the role of cross-border entrepreneurship in economic growth and the impact of social welfare schemes on entrepreneurship. In investigating these issues both micro-economic and macro-economic analyses are used.

Keywords

entrepreneurship, international new ventures, SMEs, internationalization, export, import, foreign direct investment, innovation, economic growth, knowledge spillovers, social security