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Hi

I would be grateful if the following message could be posted to the Entrep listserv:

CALL FOR PAPERS

REGIONAL STUDIES

We invite proposals for a special issue on:

"Shaping enterprise policy: Theory and practice in different contexts"

Background to the Special Issue:

Over the years great attention has been paid to innovation and regional policies to support enterprise in varying local and regional contexts (Audretsch et al., 2012; Fritsch & Storey, 2014). More recently, enterprise policy has been attracting attention as it has become a popular choice for governments seeking to increase economic growth, create jobs, promote innovation and encourage competition (Dennis, 2011).  However, there is little evidence to indicate that such policies have raised business start-up rates or enabled growing firms to make a greater contribution to employment and economic growth (Acs et al., 2016). Moreover, the theorisation of the enterprise policy process has only recently attracted the attention of entrepreneurship scholars (Xheneti, 2017), with  studies exploring the formulation (Arshed et al., 2014), the implementation (Arshed et al., 2016) and the evaluation (Ramaciotti et al., 2017) of enterprise policy, as well as understanding key stakeholders who contribute and participate in the process (Arshed, 2017). The evidence suggests that each government behaves differently, and can either encourage or impede economic activity through regulations and restrictions (North et al., 2001), highlighting that the regional context in which enterprise policy is available is heterogeneous (North & Smallbone, 2006). It is understood that the location of economic activities influences and is influenced by the activities themselves (Capasso et al., 2015) and this has become increasingly important as we observe a move towards the entrepreneurial regional economy (Stam, 2015; Thurik et al., 2013).

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a platform for insights into enterprise policy and its process by exploring the historical, temporal, institutional, spatial and social contexts in different regions through multilevel analysis (Welter, 2011). We encourage studies applying theoretical frameworks from fields such as sociology, psychology, economics, political sciences, and the wider domain of business management with an aim to critically understand the formulation, implementation, exploitation and impact of enterprise policy in its regional context. Our intention is to bring together papers which go beyond the showcasing of enterprise policies to offer a deeper perspective of these policies and processes in varying regional settings. We particularly welcome multilevel analysis highlighting a broader perspective. In doing so, the Special Issue is intended to advance our understanding on the antecedents and consequences of enterprise policies themselves and the policy-making process in relation to entrepreneurial activity because enterprise policy needs to be cognisant of external barriers to different regions and to divergent groups of individuals (Ram et al., 2013).

We invite contributions that would help to answer research questions including, but not limited to, the following:

- What do we know about the enterprise policy-making process, and in which areas can we further explore to make robust and rigorous judgments about whether the policy process will lead to effective enterprise policy?
- How can innovation and regional policies support and shape enterprise policies in different countries?
- How can theorising the process inform better policy-making to ensure a growth in entrepreneurial activity?
- Where are the gaps in our knowledge of enterprise policy-making and how do these limit our ability to ensure effectiveness?
- How does the regional, historical, temporal, institutional, spatial and social contexts impact on enterprise policy-making and the policy itself?
- Does national enterprise policy have different outcomes and impacts in different regions?
- What are the processes that explain the contextual influences (e.g. social, institutional, regional, political and economic) on enterprise policy?
- How do the different types of actors contribute to the macro, meso and micro levels in the enterprise policy-making process in different regions?

We therefore welcome original, multilevel, multi- or cross-country studies with theoretical and methodologically diverse contributions that can explore and inform enterprise policy in a regional context. We invite contributions that would help answer the research questions (but are not limited to):

·         What do we know about the enterprise policy-making process, and in which areas can we further explore to make robust and rigorous judgments about whether the policy process will lead to effective enterprise policy?

·         How can innovation and regional policies support and shape enterprise policies in different countries?

·         How can theorising the process inform better policy-making to ensure a growth in entrepreneurial activity?

·         Where are the gaps in our knowledge of enterprise policy-making and how do these limit our ability to ensure effectiveness?

·         How does the regional, historical, temporal, institutional, spatial and social contexts impact on enterprise policy-making and the policy itself?

·         Does national enterprise policy have different outcomes and impacts in different regions?

·         What are the processes that explain the contextual influences (e.g. social, institutional, regional, political and economic) on enterprise policy?

·         How do the different types of actors contribute to the macro, meso and micro levels in the enterprise policy-making process in different regions?

Submission Instructions

Please send your proposal (max. 500 words) to Norin Arshed (n.arshed@dundee.ac.uk) by Friday 16^th February 2018. Notification about the inclusion of contributions (subject to the journal's peer review process) will be given by Friday 30^th March 2018. Full papers will be expected by Monday 30^th July 2018.

Papers will be reviewed following the Regional Studies double-blind review process, and should be prepared using the Regional Studies guidelines. For more information please visit the Instructions for Authors page.

Guest editors:

Norin Arshed (University of Dundee)

Colin Mason (University of Glasgow)

David Smallbone (Kingston University)

Erik Stam (Utrecht University)

Monder Ram (University of Birmingham)

Many thanks in advance.

Best wishes,

Norin

Dr Norin Arshed

Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Dundee University School of Business

University of Dundee

Tel: 01382 385838

Email: n.arshed@dundee.ac.uk