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Dr. João Leitão, IST-Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal

Dr. Frank Lasch and Dr. Calin Gurau, GSCM-Montpellier Business School, France

This special issue spotlights technological entrepreneurship as an opportunity for promoting the development of high growth firms. The principal motivation for SMEs' growth is the search for a minimum scale of efficiency that allows survival. The alternative sources of growth deserve further research, especially the role played by the R&D effort and other categories of intangible assets in explaining the growth of SME's in high-tech industries.

As a consequence of the high level of risk associated with innovating activities which could be incompatible with small companies, it is necessary to wait some time for the desired positive effect of R&D expenditure on SMEs' growth to appear. Thus, public policies for fostering high growth firms are needed, given the various needs associated with the greater growth in high tech industries compared to more traditional sectors, as a consequence of a minimum scale of efficiency corresponding to greater size compared to more traditional sectors.

The issue will therefore draw attention ways in which technological entrepreneurship is an effective opportunity for contributing to more rapid and efficient growth. The strategic bet on high growth firms should be supported by public policies oriented for reinforcing entrepreneurial growth, in order to overcome recessive scenarios and to reinforce the competitiveness of national economies, on a microeconomic basis. As we acknowledge that technological entrepreneurship is an eclectic topic, papers that address entrepreneurship and growth from multiple levels of analysis are welcome.

Subject Coverage

Topics of interest to this IJEV focus issue include, but are not limited to:

·          Entrepreneurship opportunities in high-tech emerging industries

·          Institutional framework and gazelles

·          Intangible assets and growth in high-tech industries

·          Public policies for fostering high growth firms

·          Regional disparities of high-tech entrepreneurship

·          Serial entrepreneurship in high-tech industries

·          Spin-offs firms and gazelles from universities

·          Survival and growth of innovation and technology based firms

·          Technological entrepreneurship and marketing

·          Technology, innovation and organisational change