Questioning the Entrepreneurial State : : Status-Quo, Pitfalls, and the Need for Credible Innovation Policy

• Superior document: International Studies in Entrepreneurship ; v.53
• Author: Wennberg, Karl.
• TeilnehmendeR: Sandström, Christian.
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: International Studies in Entrepreneurship
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (364 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

The 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have made the authorities to increasingly turn inward and use ethnocentrism, protectionism, and top-down approaches to guide policy on trade, competition, and industrial development. The continuing aftereffects of such policies range from the rise and seeming success of authoritarian states, rise of populist and protectionist trends, and evolving academic agendas inspiring the reemergence of top-down industrial policies across the world. This open access edited volume contains contributions from over 30 scholars with expertise in economics, innovation, management, and economic history. The chapters offer unique theoretical and empirical contributions discussing topics such as how industrial policies affect risk, incentives, and information for investments. They also address the policy perspectives on new technologies such as AI and its implications for market entry, the role for independent entrepreneurship in increasingly regulated markets, and whether governments should focus on market interventions or institutional capacity-building. Questioning the Entrepreneurial State initiates a much sought-after debate on the notion of an Entrepreneurial State. It discusses the dangers of top-down approaches to industrial policy, examines lessons from such approaches for future policy design, and calls attention to the progress of open and contestable markets in a sound economy and society. “Creative destruction, innovation and entrepreneurship are at the core of economic growth. The government has a clear role, to provide the basic fabric of a dynamic society, but industrial policy and state-owned companies are the boulevard of broken dreams and unrealized visions. This important message is convincingly stated in Questioning the Entrepreneurial State.” Anders Borg, former Minister of Finance, Sweden “Misreading the dynamism of American entrepreneurship, European intellectuals and policy makers have embraced a dangerous fantasy: catching up requires constructing an entrepreneurial state. This book provides a vital antidote: The entrepreneur comes first: The state may support. It cannot lead.” Amar Bhidé, Thomas Schmidheiny Professor of International Business, Tufts University “This important new book subjects the emergence of the entrepreneurial state, which reflects a shift in the locus of entrepreneurship from the individual to the public sector, to the scrutiny of rigorous analysis. The resulting concerns, flaws and biases inherent in the entrepreneurial state exposed are both alarming and sobering. The skill and scholarly craftsmanship brought to bear in this crucial analysis is evident throughout the book, along with the even, but ultimately consequential thinking of the authors. A must read for researchers and thought leaders in business and policy." David Audtretsch, Distinguished Professor, Ameritech Chair of Economic Development, Indiana University

Table of Contents

Intro -- Contents -- Contributors -- Part I: Introductory Chapter -- Introduction -- 1 The Contributions to the Present Volume -- 2 Why Is the Entrepreneurial State so Popular? -- 3 Innovation Policy, Inverted -- 4 What Should Governments Do? -- 5 Lessons from Sweden -- 6 Swedish Failures Are Failures of the Entrepreneurial State -- 7 Toward Credible Innovation Policy -- References -- Part II: The Entrepreneurial State: Theoretical Perspectives -- The Entrepreneurial State and the Platform Economy -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 The Entrepreneurial State as a Regulator

2 Rent Is a Classical Fallacy -- 3 Modern Fallacies -- 4 The Techlash and the Hipster Takeover -- 5 Conclusion -- References -- An Effectual Analysis of Markets and States -- 1 Introduction -- 1.1 Overview of Effectuation -- 2 Three Dimensions of the Effectual Problem Space -- 2.1 Problem Dimension One: Knightian Uncertainty -- 2.2 Problem Dimension Two: Goal Ambiguity -- 2.3 Problem Dimension Three: Isotropy -- 3 Markets in Effectuation -- 4 States in Effectuation -- 5 Two Frameworks for Tackling Isotropy and Fostering Innovation -- 5.1 Applying the Framework to Innovation Policy

6 Markets and States as Outcomes of the Effectual Process -- 7 The Ultimate Innovation: Goals Worth Pursuing -- References -- The Entrepreneurial State: An Ownership Competence Perspective -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The Myth of the Entrepreneurial State -- 2.1 The Entrepreneurial State -- 2.2 Policy Ineffectiveness -- 2.3 The Effects of Government Ownership -- 3 Ownership Competence -- 4 Government Incompetence in Markets and Firms -- 5 Concluding Remarks -- References -- Innovation Without Entrepreneurship: The Pipe Dream of Mission-Oriented Innovation Policy -- 1 Introduction

2 Innovation and Entrepreneurship: A Knowledge-Based View -- 3 Market Failure and the Entrepreneurial State -- 3.1 Bottom-Up, Top-Down, and the Role of the (Entrepreneurial) State -- 3.2 The Evaluation of a Mission -- 4 External Validity and Scalability: The Problem with Arguing from Anecdote -- 5 Concluding Remarks: Can Missions Work? -- References -- Part III: The Entrepreneurial State, Entrepreneurial Universities, and Startups -- Building Local Innovation Support Systems: Theory and Practice -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The Umeå Region Innovation System: Organizing Entrepreneurial Judgment

2.1 Academic Innovation Support in Practice -- 3 Incubator Support Action in Practice: A Conceptual Discussion -- 3.1 Information and Nudging for Utilization -- 3.2 Direct Support in Solving Problems -- 3.3 Coaching Along the Startup Process -- 3.4 Networking and Providing Creative Arenas -- 4 Conceptual Rationales Behind Public Support Systems for Innovation -- 4.1 Direct Interventions May Run the Risk of Causing Market Distortions -- 4.2 Focus on Favorable Conditions -- 5 Discussion and Conclusions -- 5.1 Direct Support with Limits -- References

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