Description

Previous generations enjoyed the security of lifelong employment with a sole employer. Public policy and social institutions reinforced that security by producing a labor force content with mechanized repetition in manufacturing plants, and creating loyalty to one employer for life. This is no longer the case. Globalization and new technologies have triggered a shift away from capital and towards knowledge. In today's global economy, where jobs and factories can be moved quickly to low-cost locations, the competitive advantage has shifted to ideas, insights, and innovation. But it is not enough just to have new ideas. It takes entrepreneurs to actualize them by championing them to society. Entrepreneurship has emerged as the proactive response to globalization.

In this book, award-winning economist David B. Audretsch identifies the positive, proactive response to globalization --the entrepreneurial society, where change is the cutting edge and routine work is inevitably outsourced. Under the managed economy of the cold war era, government policies around the world supported big business, while small business was deemed irrelevant and largely ignored. The author documents the fundamental policy revolution underway, shifting the focus to technology and knowledge-based entrepreneurship, where start-ups and small business have emerged as the driving force of innovation, jobs, competitiveness and growth. The role of the university has accordingly shifted from tangential to a highly valued seedbed for coveted new ideas with the potential to create not just breathtaking new ventures but also entire new industries. By understanding the shift from the managed economy and the emergence of the entrepreneurial society, individuals, businesses, and communities can learn how to proactively harness the opportunities afforded by globalization in this new entrepreneurial society.

Features

• Written by the author of Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth
• Takes the context of the older book's connection between entrepreneurship and economic growth, and narrows it to entrepreneurship's stimulation of developing economies
• Argues that entrepreneurship contributes to many levels of developing economies, from firms to entire regions, by serving as a conduit for knowledege spillovers, injecting competition for new ideas, and increasing the amount of diversity
• Short, readable, and robust, the book is a must for researchers and students in development economics

Reviews

"The Entrepreneurial Society is a guided tour of economic opportunity by a man who knows equally well the languages of businesses and universities, Europe and the United States, history and politics, Bob Dylan and the literature of technical economics. David Audretsch has something interesting to say about all of it."--David Warsh, author, Knowledge and the Wealth Of Nations: A Story of Economic Discovery and editor, economicprincipals.com

"Dave Audretsch understands entrepreneurship. In The Entrepreneurial Society he rationalizes the history, causes and significance of entrepreneurship as the current driving force behind America's successful return to global financial leadership. He also outlines the threats we face from abroad, again, if we fail to recognize the world is reshaping itself to compete on our knowledge turf. Once only a punchline to describe the maverick behavior of Silicon Valley, Audretsch has brought entrepreneurship permanently into the shared spotlight of academic research, public policy and, most importantly, global corporate strategy. His book is a first."--Jack Harding, President and CEO, eSilicon Corporation

"With insight and clarity, Audretsch describes the sweeping transformation of the American economy over the past two decades. Adroitly weaving together social, economic, and cultural changes, he chronicles the demise of the bureaucratic 'managed' economy. The dawn of the entrepreneurial society' in its place carries far-reaching consequences, and Audretsch's book serves as an important guide to exploring them."--Carl J. Schramm, President and CEO, The Kauffman Foundation

"With one foot in Germany and the other in the U.S., Audretsch is in a unique position to show what does and does not make an economy tick. Appearing in an era when India, Brazil, China and Russia loom, this book is mandatory reading for scholars of U.S. competitiveness and Eurosclerosis both. Listen to Audretsch."--Amity Shlaes, Syndicated Columnist, Bloomberg

"In The Entrepreneurial Society , Audretsch makes a valuable contribution to understanding contemporary America by charting the rise of entrepreneurship as the critical force in driving American economic preeminence. He contributes to our economic future by outlining what American policy makers and average citizens must do to continue to stoke this force." --Randall Kempner, Vice President, Regional Innovation, Council on Competitiveness

"The Industrial Society of the 1950s and 60s is over. In its place is emerging a new Entrepreneurial Society and culture. How can business adapt? Which countries and regions will win and lose? What does it mean for you? David Audretsch provides the answers in this important book." --Richard Florida, author, Rise of the Creative Class

Product Details

248 pages; 9 line illus.; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-518350-4ISBN10: 0-19-518350-9

About the Author(s)