Urban and rural areas differ in economic, social and environmental terms. Due to the diverging dynamics in urban and rural areas, the social and economic distance between them might increase in the future even more. Rural entrepreneurs with linkages to urban areas are able to bridge the rural-urban divide by accessing some of the urban features, such as knowledge and markets, while at the same time profiting from the advantages of their peripheral location. This paper highlights exploratory results from qualitative interviews with rural entrepreneurs, and we illustrate entrepreneurial linkages to urban centers. The interview data show that rural entrepreneurs with rural-urban linkages develop sensibility for core market demands and trends, they valuate rural assets, and they combine rural and urban sources of knowledge for innovation. Through their entrepreneurial activity, rural entrepreneurs with linkages to urban areas might constitute an opposite force to polarizing concentration of economic activities in cities. Hence, rural entrepreneurs with urban linkages might contribute to sustainable economic relationships between urban and rural areas.

Purpose This paper aims to assess the often repeated, but empirically unconfirmed, supposition that there is a positive connection between foreign board members (FBMs) and firm innovativeness and to set a research agenda for future studies on the topic. Design/methodology/approach The analyses are based on a large sample of firms within the European Union, utilizing patent and trademark data together with information on the national diversity of the boards. Findings The analyses confirm that there is a positive association between FBMs and firm innovativeness. Contrary to expectations, FBMs from less innovative countries than the countries of their host companies are more associated with innovative firms than are FBMs from more innovative countries. Research limitations/implications This study provides empirical support for propositions, drawn from resource dependency theory and group effectiveness/diversity theories, that diverse boards of directors can lead to greater firm-level creativity and innovativeness. It also outlines a detailed research agenda for future studies to build on the tentative findings presented in this paper. Practical implications The findings suggest that greater national diversity in the board of directors can enhance innovation. Originality/value Earlier studies on board diversity have not analyzed empirically the issue of national diversity. The originality of this paper lies in its attempt to address this gap in the corporate governance literature.

Integrated assessment of the solar thermochemical fuel pathway including production costs, life-cycle emissions, and social risks.

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This paper investigates how spinoffs in peripheral regions can profit from the work experience of their founders. More specifically, it discusses which firm routines and business contacts entrepreneurs gather through their prior work experience, and how this experience influences the organizational structure and orientation of the newly founded firm. The transfer of capabilities from parent firm to spinoff has been identified as important aspect of industrial clustering, but empirical evidence from peripheral areas is still sparse. It compares 22 semi‐structured interviews with founders of manufacturing firms from different peripheral regions in Switzerland to investigate whether routine and network transfer differs in varying peripheral contexts. The results show that not only inherited routines are important, but also inherited business contacts. Further, instead of simply reproducing acquired routines and networks, founders employ a mixture of continuity and change to find a good trade‐off between relying on well‐proven practices and introducing novelty. Finally, the geographical proximity of inherited business contacts seems to have an influence on the implementation strategy founders choose. Entrepreneurs with strong inherited local business contacts do not have to invest as much in building up new business contacts as those entrepreneurs in more isolated locations.