David A. Kirby - Small Firms and Economic Development in Developed and Transition Economies: A Reader

SMALL FIRMS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN DEVELOPED AND TRANSITION ECONOMIES: A READER

Series Editor: Professor Ken Morita
Faculty of Economics, Hiroshima University, Japan

The Transition and Development series aims to provide high quality research books that examine transition and development societies in a broad sense including countries that have made a decisive break with central planning as well as those in which governments are introducing elements of a market approach to promote development. Books examining countries moving in the opposite direction will also be included. Titles in the series will encompass a range of social science disciplines. As a whole the series will add up to a truly global academic endeavour to grapple with the questions transition and development economies pose.

Also in the series:

Institutional Change in Transition Economies
Edited by Michael Cuddy and Ruvin Gekker
ISBN 0 7546 1977 X

The Social Impact of Informal Economies in Eastern Europe
Edited by Rainer Neef and Manuela Stanculescu
ISBN 0 7546 1950 8

Forthcoming titles:

Enhanced Transition Through Outward Internationalization
Outward FDI by Slovenian Firms
Andreja Jaklic and Marjan Svetlicic
ISBN 0 7546 3134 6

Facilitating Transition by Internationalization
Outward Direct Investment from Central European Economies
Marjan Svetlicic and Matija Rojec
ISBN 0 7546 3133 8

Edited by
David A. Kirby and Anna Watson
University of Surrey, UK

First published 2003 by Ashgate Publishing

Reissued 2018 by Routledge
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Copyright David A. Kirby and Anna Watson 2003

The editors have asserted their moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the editors of this work.

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Publisher's Note
The Publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 2002074542

ISBN 13: 978-1-138-72445-7 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-315-19245-1 (ebk)

Iacob Catoiu is Professor of Marketing and Dean of the Faculty of Commerce at the Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania.

Alexandre Chamanski is a market ananlyst at Stavanger University College, Norway.

Per Davidsson is Professor of Entrepreneurship at Jornkoping International Business School, Sweden.

Frdric Delinar is Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden.

Mateja Drnovsek is a research assistant at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Miroslav Glas is Professor of Economics and Entrepreneurship at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and founder and Head of the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development.

David A . Kirby is Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Surrey, England, and Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of South Australia, Adelaide.

Irina Kuzmina is Head of Business Studies, Riga International College of Economics and Business Administration, Latvia.

Thuy O . Lam is a PhD student at ESSEC (Ecole Suprieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales), France.

Jianwen Liao is a Lecturer in the College of Business and Management, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, USA.

Miroslav Mateev is Associate Professor in the Department of Finance at the University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, and Head of International Projects and Programmes Department at the Institute of Public Administration and European Integration, Sofia, Bulgaria,

David North is a Professor of Regional Development in the Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research (CEEDR), Middlesex University Business School, England.

David Pistrui is a Clinical Instructor in the Entrepreneurship Programme at DePaul University, Chicago, and a Research Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Management at the Stuart Graduate School of Business in the Illinois Institute of Technology, USA.

Hans J. Pohl is a specialist in economic science at the Univeristy for technology and Economics, Dresden, Germany.

Walter Ruda is Professor of Business Administration for Small and Medium Enterprises, at the Faculty of Business Administration, University of Applied Sciences, Germany and CFO of CDV Software Entertainment.

David Smallbone is a Professor of Small and Medium Enterprises and Head of the Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research (CEEDR), Middlesex University Business School, England.

Calin Veghes is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Commerce, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania

Ian Vickers is a Senior Research Officer in the Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research, Middlesex University Business School, England

Sigmund J. Waag is a Professor at the Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Technology and Science, Trondheim.

Anna Watson is a Lecturer in the School of Management, University of Surrey, England.

Harold P. Welsch is a Professor of Management and Coleman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship at the Department of Management, DePaul University, Chicago, USA.

Friederike Welter is a Senior Researcher in the research group 'Crafts and SMEs' at the Rhine-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI), Essen, Germany.

Oliver Wintermantel is a member of the European General Retail Team, Morgan Stanley, London, UK,

Since the late 1980s considerable attention has been paid to the development of new small firms and the creation of enterprise cultures. With the collapse of communism and the opening up of the economies of Central and Eastern Europe, small and medium sized enterprises have been seen as the vehicle for economic and social development in these countries and many of the lessons learned in Western Europe have been transferred through national and European aid programmes and other initiatives. In 'Small Firms and Economic Development in Developed and Transition Economies', Kirby and Watson present a series of 11 essays by leading academic scholars from throughout Europe to provide a timely review of the achievements to date and the challenges facing those responsible for driving the economies of a free-market Europe. Not only do the individual essays give detailed insights into the issues facing the developed and transition economies, and the approaches being taken to promote economic development through small and medium sized enterprises, but there is a coherence to the Reader that so frequently is lacking from such works. In part, this is provided by the editorial team who have skilfully sequenced the essays and provided the synthesising commentary and observation very necessary in this sort of work. Overall, therefore, the work makes a very valuable contribution to the body of understanding on the role of small and medium sized enterprises in economic development in general and the developed and transition economies of Europe in particular. Clearly, it is not without its limitations, as essay collections of this type so frequently are, but the publishers and the two editors are to be commended, in particular, for taking the initiative and producing a statement that is timely, relevant and, importantly, readable.