Abstract.
While the neoclassical growth theory considered economic growth as a process of mere accumulation of production capital, the endogenous growth theory shifted the lens to the importance of knowledge in the production process and its potential to create spillovers. We argue in this paper that there is a gap between knowledge and exploitable knowledge or economic knowledge. Economic knowledge emerges from a selection process across the generally available body of knowledge, actively driven by economic agents. This paper suggests that entrepreneurship is an important mechanism in driving that selection process hence in creating diversity of knowledge, which in turn serves as a mechanism facilitating the spillover of knowledge. We provide empirical evidence that regions with higher levels of entrepreneurship indeed exhibit stronger growth in labor productivity.
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JEL Classification:
M13, O32, O47
Correspondence to: David B. Audretsch
We are grateful to the ZEW in Mannheim for research support and to the German Science Foundation (DFG) for financial support under research grant number STA 169/10-2. We are indebted to two anonymous referees and the editor of the special issue for their helpful comments.
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Audretsch, D.B., Keilbach, M. Entrepreneurship and regional growth: an evolutionary interpretation. J. Evol. Econ. 14, 605–616 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00191-004-0228-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00191-004-0228-6