Change, innovation, and job generation

Modelling the value of external networks for knowledge realisation, innovation, organisational development and efficiency in SMEs

“…As shown in Table 2, the effects of individuals on the 'Dickensian' side of the Knowledge Valley fold possessing networks enabling the effective use of external 'just-in-time' knowledge, basically parallels that seen on the 'Schumpeterian' side. It is not immediately clear why the values are slightly different -implying a lower efficiency in every case -but this effect has been observed before (see the Pareto distribution experiment described in Mellor, 2014b) and ascribed to the generally slower 'mercantile metabolism' of 'elephants' (for nomenclature regarding SMEs, see Birch, 1989), which are regarded as large SMEs on the slopes of low-to-medium innovation (Mellor, 2011b).…”

Myth-busting and entrepreneurship policy: the case of high growth firms

“…Of course, the extreme diversity of HGFs creates difficulties for policy makers on account of their obsession with designing interventions that target specific types of firms, typically according to sector (Lee 2014). As a result, many of the assumptions and findings from the very early HGF literature, even dating back to David Birch's seminal studies in the 1970s and 80s (Birch, 1979;1981), have continued to dominate policy discourse and development, despite new (and sometimes contradictory) findings emerging. An example of this is the continued focus by policy makers on start-ups generally, despite the evidence showing most start-ups generate little in the way of economic value commensurate with the value of the support they receive (Atherton 2006;Shane 2009;Fritsch and Storey 2014;Mason and Brown, 2014).…”

“…Given that interest in HGFs stemmed from the observation that young, small fast-growing firms created the bulk of jobs (Birch 1979;1981), it is unsurprising that HGFs remain conceptualised within policy circles as being dynamic young ventures. For example, policy makers in New Zealand still hold to the belief that "High-growth businesses are often small or young businesses" (Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment 2013, 6).…”

New Business Formation and Regional Development: A Survey and Assessment of the Evidence

“…The following sections then provide an overview of the results of analyses that investigated the effect of new business formation on economic development based on a more macro-level approach. David Birch's (1979) empirical approach was to follow the development of groups (cohorts) of businesses over time. His statements about the main drivers of development in the U.S. economy were based on comparisons of the performance of business cohorts.…”