Synopses & Reviews
Major changes have taken place in the attitude of governments towards small firms. Public encouragement of the small firm is not, however, without its pitfalls and in this collection of essays (first published in 1985) the contribution of small businesses to economic development is assessed in a number of different localities. The authors show that public policies designed to influence a wide variety of small businesses are doomed to failure. Entrepreneurial independence, contrasting regional prosperity and the variable rate of response to central policy initiatives are amongst the factors mitigating against the success of such a policy. The small business is not to be seen as a panacea for solving the economic development problems of areas suffering from high rates of unemployment, and their overall conclusion is that assistance to small firms should be more selective than is customarily the norm.
Synopsis
This collection of essays the contribution of small businesses to economic development is assessed in a number of different localities.
Synopsis
This collection of essays (first published in 1985) the contribution of small businesses to economic development is assessed in a number of different localities. The small business is not to be seen as a panacea for solving the economic development problems of areas suffering from high rates of unemployment, and assistance to small firms should be more selective than is customarily the norm.
Table of Contents
List of contributors; 1. Introduction D. J. Storey; 2. Manufacturing employment change in Northern England 1965-78: the role of small businesses D. J. Storey; 3. New firms and rural industrialisation in East Anglia A. Gould and D. Keeble; 4. Spatial variations in new firm formation in the United Kingdom: comparative evidence from Merseyside, Greater Manchester and South Hampshire P. E. Lloyd and M. Mason; 5. An industrial and spatial analysis of new firm formation in Ireland P. N. O'Farrell and R. Crouchley; 6. Innovation and regional growth in small high technology firms: evidence from Britain and the USA R. P. Oakey; 7. Regional variations in capital structure of new small businesses: the Wisconsin case R. E. Shaffer and G. C. Pulver; 8. The world of small business: turbulence and survival A. R. Markusen and M. B. Teitz; 9. The implications for policy D. J. Storey; Index.