The Entrepreneurial Society

David B. Audretsch

Jul 2007 · Oxford University Press

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

To a whole generation “the times they are a-changin” by Bob Dylan carried a message of change. Reading the book “The entrepreneurial society” by David Audretsch feels like listening to a remix version of that song claiming the demise of the ‘beast of big business’. It could also have been an updated version of Peter Drucker’s (1985) book “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” - yet it is an absolutely valuable book that deserves a place in the library of anyone interested in the driving forces behind the global economy. ... [copywrite Martijn Boermans]

AAA BOSS NETWORK

About the author

David B. Audretsch is Director of the Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Division at the Max Planck Institute of Economics and Ameritech Chair of Economic Development at Indiana University