Despite the widespread belief that entrepreneurship is a key factor in economic development, there have been few attempts to develop formal models to analyze the phenomenon. This paper presents a model in which endogenous entrepreneurial activity is a key determinant of economic growth. The theory also differs from standard models in that growth is driven by the imitative activities of entrepreneurs. Previous theories have focused on the direct production of knowledge, underemphasizing the importance of imitation in the growth process. The paper also examines external effects arising from these entrepreneurial activities--effects distinct from those studied by Paul Romer.

Despite the widespread belief that entrepreneurship is a key factor in economic development, there have been few attempts to develop formal models to analyze the phenomenon. This paper presents a model in which endogenous entrepreneurial activity is a key determinant of economic growth. The theory also differs from standard models in that growth is driven by the imitative activities of entrepreneurs. Previous theories have focused on the direct production of knowledge, underemphasizing the importance of imitation in the growth process. The paper also examines external effects arising from these entrepreneurial activities--effects distinct from those studied by Paul Romer.

This article explores a Census Bureau survey of the small business sector, the 1982 Characteristics of Business Owners survey, which contains information on both small businesses and the managers running them. A number of patterns are documented. For example, among small businesses of the same age, the probability that a business fails and the probability that a business is sold are both initially decreasing in the tenure of the manager at the business. Among businesses with managers who have the same tenure at their business, the probability that a business fails is decreasing in the age of the business.

Great Lakes iron ore producers had faced no competition from foreign iron ore in the Great Lakes steel market for nearly a century as the 1970s closed. In the early 1980s, as a result of unprecedented developments in the world steel market, Brazilian producers were offering to deliver iron ore to Chicago (the heart of the Great Lakes market) at prices substantially below prices of local iron ore. The U.S. and Canadian iron ore industries faced a major crisis that cast doubt on their future. In response to the crisis, these industries dramatically increased productivity. Labor productivity doubled in a few years (whereas it had changed little in the preceding decade). Materials productivity increased by more than half. Capital productivity increased as well. I show that most of the productivity gains were due to changes in work practices. Work practice changes reduced overstaffing and hence increased labor productivity. By increasing the fraction of time equipment was in operating mode, changes in work practices also significantly increased materials and capital productivity.

This paper develops a model of small business failure and sale that is motivated by recent evidence concerning how the failure and sale of small businesses vary with the age of the business and the tenure of the manager. This evidence motivates two key features of the model: a match between the manager and the business, and characteristics of businesses that survive beyond the current match. The parameters of the model are estimated, and the properties of this parametric model are studied. This analysis results in a simple characterization of the workings of the small business sector.

This paper develops a model of small business failure and sale that is motivated by recent evidence concerning how the failure and sale of small businesses vary with the age of the business and the tenure of the manager. This evidence motivates two key features of the model: a match between the manager and the business, and characteristics of businesses that survive beyond the current match. The parameters of the model are estimated, and the properties of this parametric model are studied. This analysis results in a simple characterization of the workings of the small business sector.

We formalize a view of entrepreneurship in the spirit of Theodore W. Schultz. In this view, entrepreneurs are those individuals who respond to the opportunities for creating new products (and the like) that arise because of technological progress, for example. The theory has implications for entry and exit, specialization of labor, and business transfers. These business transfers correspond to, among other things, individuals changing jobs an sales of firms. Transfers are seen as a mechanism facilitating division of labor. We also discuss evidence on business transfers that occur through sales of firms.

We formalize a view of entrepreneurship in the spirit of Theodore W. Schultz. In this view, entrepreneurs are those individuals who respond to the opportunities for creating new products (and the like) that arise because of technological progress, for example. The theory has implications for entry and exit, specialization of labor, and business transfers. These business transfers correspond to, among other things, individuals changing jobs an sales of firms. Transfers are seen as a mechanism facilitating division of labor. We also discuss evidence on business transfers that occur through sales of firms.

Thomas J. Prusa, James A. Schmitz, Jr., Can Companies Maintain their Initial Innovative Thrust? A Study of the PC Software Industry, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 76, No. 3 (Aug., 1994), pp. 523-540

Competitive Pressure and Labor Productivity: World Iron-Ore Markets in the 1980's by José E. Galdón-Sánchez and James A. Schmitz Jr.. Published in volume 92, issue 4, pages 1222-1235 of American Economic Review, September 2002