Per Davidsson – författare

Entrepreneurship is a phenomenon of tremendous societal importance. It is also an elusive phenomenon, and researching entrepreneurship is therefore fun, fascinating and frustrating at times. In Researching Entrepreneurship, Per Davidsson, one of the most highly recognized entrepreneurship scholars shares in a personal and readable way his rich experience and ideas on how entrepreneurship can or should be researched. After a comprehensive treatment of entrepreneurship as societal phenomenon and scholarly domain, the core chapters of the book discuss design, sampling, operationalization and analysis issues on several levels of analysis: individual, venture, firm, industry, region and nation. The book is targeted at doctoral students and other relative newcomers to the field of entrepreneurship research. However, taking a fresh, reflective perspective and looking beyond research conventions, it should provide potential for inspiration and food for thought also for experienced entrepreneurship researchers.

This insightful volume presents a collection of innovative works by two of the leading researchers of firm growth.The studies extend previous research by providing stronger theoretical underpinnings and using longitudinal databases that can separate in time the firms' growth from its presumed causes. They also break new ground by examining different modes of growth, such as sales growth vs. employment growth, and organic growth vs. acquisition-based expansion. Further, the studies investigate the drivers of firm growth and take a critical look at the effects, such as under what circumstances high growth is associated with high profitability.The issue of how firm growth is achieved and managed, and what consequences it has for different stakeholders is both theoretically interesting and practically important. The book will strongly appeal to academics of entrepreneurship, small business management and strategy.Contributors: L. Achtenhagen, G.N. Chandler, P. Davidsson, F. Delmar, J. Fitzsimmons, S. Girma, A. Lockett, A. McKelvie, L. Naldi, H. Patzelt, D.A. Shepherd, P. Steffens, J. Wiklund

This insightful volume presents a collection of innovative works by two of the leading researchers of firm growth.The studies extend previous research by providing stronger theoretical underpinnings and using longitudinal databases that can separate in time the firms' growth from its presumed causes. They also break new ground by examining different modes of growth, such as sales growth vs. employment growth, and organic growth vs. acquisition-based expansion. Further, the studies investigate the drivers of firm growth and take a critical look at the effects, such as under what circumstances high growth is associated with high profitability.The issue of how firm growth is achieved and managed, and what consequences it has for different stakeholders is both theoretically interesting and practically important. The book will strongly appeal to academics of entrepreneurship, small business management and strategy.Contributors: L. Achtenhagen, G.N. Chandler, P. Davidsson, F. Delmar, J. Fitzsimmons, S. Girma, A. Lockett, A. McKelvie, L. Naldi, H. Patzelt, D.A. Shepherd, P. Steffens, J. Wiklund

This collection of authoritative papers presents a broad, state-of-the-art overview of new firm startups, drawing on the most recent research in economics, sociology and psychology. In addition to conceptual papers, it includes the qualitative and quantitative empirical research, which addresses both the antecedents and outcomes of new firm startups on different levels of analysis and provides insights into the process of new firm creation. This scholarly collection will be of interest to students and researchers, as well as policymakers, consultants and other practitioners in need of an in-depth understanding of new firm formation.

What characterizes the phenomenon of (small) firm growth, and how can it best be studied? Why and how do firms grow - and why don't they? Is firm growth externally determined or the result of managers' visions and actions? What are the different paths that firms follow in order to achieve high growth? Is growth evidence of entrepreneurship - and is growth always desirable?In this book, three leading scholars have integrated some of their most important research in order to answer these questions on firm growth. The result is a volume that builds on studies of many thousands of firms in several different projects. It offers deep insights into the firm growth phenomenon and how it can be studied. This research-based study promises to be a valuable resource for academics and students focussing on business and management, and, more specifically, entrepreneurship. Researchers who aspire to design and conduct further studies leading to deeper and better established insights into firm growth will also find the book invaluable, as will those who encourage and assist firm growth as part of their profession.

Entrepreneurship is an emerging, dynamic and to a considerable extent, unpredictable phenomenon. Thus, it makes for a challenging research subject. In this book, one of the most experienced empiricists in the field has collected some of his most important ideas on how improved conceptualization and research design can make this challenge more manageable.Per Davidsson addresses questions such as: What precisely is entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship research? What unique contribution can it make compared with research in other fields? Conversely, how can scholars with different disciplinary backgrounds best contribute to the study of entrepreneurship? What does the emergent and highly diverse nature of entrepreneurship imply for research design? And what is required from entrepreneurship researchers - and practitioners - in order for the research to make strong contributions to business and policy practice?This comprehensive, in-depth account of how the emergence of new entrepreneurial activity can be studied will be warmly welcomed by researchers and academics in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation and methodology and research design.

What characterizes the phenomenon of (small) firm growth, and how can it best be studied? Why and how do firms grow - and why don't they? Is firm growth externally determined or the result of managers' visions and actions? What are the different paths that firms follow in order to achieve high growth? Is growth evidence of entrepreneurship - and is growth always desirable?In this book, three leading scholars have integrated some of their most important research in order to answer these questions on firm growth. The result is a volume that builds on studies of many thousands of firms in several different projects. It offers deep insights into the firm growth phenomenon and how it can be studied. This research-based study promises to be a valuable resource for academics and students focussing on business and management, and, more specifically, entrepreneurship. Researchers who aspire to design and conduct further studies leading to deeper and better established insights into firm growth will also find the book invaluable, as will those who encourage and assist firm growth as part of their profession.

Entrepreneurship is an emerging, dynamic and to a considerable extent, unpredictable phenomenon. Thus, it makes for a challenging research subject. In this book, one of the most experienced empiricists in the field has collected some of his most important ideas on how improved conceptualization and research design can make this challenge more manageable.Per Davidsson addresses questions such as: What precisely is entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship research? What unique contribution can it make compared with research in other fields? Conversely, how can scholars with different disciplinary backgrounds best contribute to the study of entrepreneurship? What does the emergent and highly diverse nature of entrepreneurship imply for research design? And what is required from entrepreneurship researchers - and practitioners - in order for the research to make strong contributions to business and policy practice?This comprehensive, in-depth account of how the emergence of new entrepreneurial activity can be studied will be warmly welcomed by researchers and academics in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation and methodology and research design.

The past two decades have witnessed a surge in interest in the field of nascent entrepreneurship. In this title, the editors successfully draw together the most important works that utilize the new real-time approaches for studying early stage entrepreneurial activity that were developed and refined in the last couple of decades. Providing the empirical, theoretical and methodological insights from some of the most influential researchers in this field, this book is an indispensable source of reference for researchers, students and others who have an interest in new venture creation and its role in the economy.

In this book, one of the most highly recognized entrepreneurship scholars shares in a personal and readable way his rich experience and ideas on how entrepreneurship can be researched. Entrepreneurship is a phenomenon of tremendous societal importance. It is also an elusive phenomenon, which makes researching it fun, fascinating—and frustrating at times. In this fully updated edition, numerous real examples accompany the treatment of problems and solutions concerning design, sampling, operationalization and analysis. Researching Entrepreneurship is targeted primarily at research students and academics who are relatively new to research or to entrepreneurship research. This said, basic knowledge of research methods is assumed, and when foundational issues are discussed they are typically approach from a non-standard angle and/or with an eye to illuminate entrepreneurship-specific problems and solutions. This makes large parts of the contents potentiallyvaluable for entrepreneurship scholars at any level of research proficiency. The book is also of interest to sophisticated, non-academic users with a professional interest in collecting and analyzing data from emerging and young ventures, and to those who make use of published entrepreneurship research. For example, analysts in marketing research or consultancy firms, business associations, statistical agencies and other government offices may find this book to be a valuable tool. Moreover, while the examples are derived from entrepreneurship research, the book provides a unique "experienced empirical researcher" (rather than "textbook method expert") treatment of issues that are of equal relevance across the social sciences. This goes for topics like the role of theory; research design; validity assessment; statistical inference, and replication.Entrepreneurship research has developed rapidly in the decade that has passed since the first edition. Therefore, all chapters have been comprehensively updated and many have been extended; sometimes to twice the original length. Two of the original chapters have been excluded to make room for entirely new chapters on “the Dependent Variable” and “The Entrepreneurship Nexus.” While retaining a unique, personal tone, the author uses examples and references that build on contributions from a large number of top entrepreneurship researchers.