IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/loceco/v27y2012i1p33-49.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Raising the batting average: Re-orientating regional industrial policy to generate more high growth firms

Author

Listed:
  • Ross Brown
  • Colin Mason

Abstract

High growth firms play a disproportionate role in contributing to the economic vitality of regional economies. These are precisely the types of businesses that policy makers need to support in order to generate economic growth. Despite this, the article argues that current regional industrial and enterprise promotion policies in the UK are poorly equipped to help firms grow rapidly. This argument is developed by means of a critical examination of innovation support policies in Scotland. Indeed, many governments use such policies as a surrogate form of high growth firm policy. The article discusses the underlying principles and types of support which are needed to help foster and support rapidly growing firms. It argues that effective policy needs to be targeted, selective and customized to the specialist needs of high growth firms. The implementation of these types of policies is best delivered at a sub-national or regional level.

Suggested Citation

  • Ross Brown & Colin Mason, 2012. "Raising the batting average: Re-orientating regional industrial policy to generate more high growth firms," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 27(1), pages 33-49, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:loceco:v:27:y:2012:i:1:p:33-49
    DOI: 10.1177/0269094211424252
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0269094211424252
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0269094211424252?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David B. Audretsch & Isabel Grilo & A. Roy Thurik (ed.), 2007. "Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship Policy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3856.
    2. Cowling, Keith & Sugden, Roger, 1993. "Industrial Strategy: A Missing Link in British Economic Policy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 9(3), pages 83-100, Autumn.
    3. Rodrik, Dani, 2004. "Industrial Policy for the Twenty-First Century," CEPR Discussion Papers 4767, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Magnus Henrekson & Dan Johansson, 2010. "Gazelles as job creators: a survey and interpretation of the evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 227-244, September.
    5. Scott Shane, 2009. "Why encouraging more people to become entrepreneurs is bad public policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 141-149, August.
    6. Elizabeth Garnsey & Erik Stam & Paul Heffernan, 2006. "New Firm Growth: Exploring Processes and Paths," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20.
    7. John Beath, 2002. "UK Industrial Policy: Old Tunes on New Instruments?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 18(2), pages 221-239, June.
    8. Josh Lerner, 2010. "The future of public efforts to boost entrepreneurship and venture capital," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 255-264, October.
    9. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 2003. "Deconstructing clusters: chaotic concept or policy panacea?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 5-35, January.
    10. Gry Agnete Alsos & Sara Carter & Elisabet Ljunggren & Friederike Welter (ed.), 2011. "The Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship in Agriculture and Rural Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13602.
    11. Ingrid Verheul & Linda van Mil, 2008. "What Determines the Growth Ambition of Dutch Early-Stage Entrepreneurs?," Scales Research Reports H200811, EIM Business and Policy Research.
    12. Richard Harrison & Claire Leitch, 2010. "Voodoo Institution or Entrepreneurial University? Spin-off Companies, the Entrepreneurial System and Regional Development in the UK," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(9), pages 1241-1262.
    13. David Bailey & Keith Cowling, 2006. "Industrial Policy and Vulnerable Capitalism," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(5), pages 537-553.
    14. Meric Gertler, 2010. "Rules of the Game: The Place of Institutions in Regional Economic Change," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 1-15.
    15. Antoncic, Bostjan & Hisrich, Robert D., 2001. "Intrapreneurship: Construct refinement and cross-cultural validation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 495-527, September.
    16. Audretsch, David B & Feldman, Maryann P, 1996. "R&D Spillovers and the Geography of Innovation and Production," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 630-640, June.
    17. Kevin F Mole & Mark Hart & Stephen Roper & David S Saal, 2011. "Broader or Deeper? Exploring the Most Effective Intervention Profile for Public Small Business Support," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 43(1), pages 87-105, January.
    18. Colin Mason & Richard Harrison, 2006. "After the exit: Acquisitions, entrepreneurial recycling and regional economic development," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 55-73.
    19. Kevin Mole & Mark Hart & Stephen Roper & David Saal, 2008. "Differential Gains from Business Link Support and Advice: A Treatment Effects Approach," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 26(2), pages 315-334, April.
    20. Andy Pike & John Tomaney, 2008. "The state and uneven development: the governance of economic development in England in the post-devolution UK," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 2(1), pages 13-34.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Colin Mason & Ross Brown, 2013. "Creating good public policy to support high-growth firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 211-225, February.
    2. Ross Brown & Colin Mason, 2017. "Looking inside the spiky bits: a critical review and conceptualisation of entrepreneurial ecosystems," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 11-30, June.
    3. Ross Brown & Suzanne Mawson, 2016. "The geography of job creation in high growth firms: the implications of ‘growing abroad’," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(2), pages 207-227, March.
    4. Ross Brown & Suzanne Mawson, 2016. "Targeted support for high growth firms: Theoretical constraints, unintended consequences and future policy challenges," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(5), pages 816-836, August.
    5. Daniel L. Bennett, 2021. "Local economic freedom and creative destruction in America," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 333-353, January.
    6. Ricard Esparza-Masana, 2022. "Towards Smart Specialisation 2.0. Main Challenges When Updating Strategies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(1), pages 635-655, March.
    7. Dionisio, Eduardo Avancci & Inácio Júnior, Edmundo & Fischer, Bruno Brandão, 2021. "Country-level efficiency and the index of dynamic entrepreneurship: Contributions from an efficiency approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    8. Anoosheh Rostamkalaei & Mark Freel, 2016. "The cost of growth: small firms and the pricing of bank loans," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 255-272, February.
    9. Ari Hyytinen & Petri Rouvinen & Mika Pajarinen & Joosua Virtanen, 2023. "Ex Ante Predictability of Rapid Growth: A Design Science Approach," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(6), pages 2465-2493, November.
    10. Erik Stam & Andrew Ven, 2021. "Entrepreneurial ecosystem elements," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 809-832, February.
    11. João Ricardo Faria & Laudo Ogura & Mauricio Prado & Christopher J. Boudreaux, 2023. "Government investments and entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1657-1670, December.
    12. Kristina Nyström, 2013. "Entrepreneurial politicians," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 41-54, June.
    13. Rolf Sternberg, 2022. "Entrepreneurship and geography—some thoughts about a complex relationship," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(3), pages 559-584, December.
    14. Autio, Erkko & Rannikko, Heikki, 2016. "Retaining winners: Can policy boost high-growth entrepreneurship?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 42-55.
    15. Lanahan, Lauren & Joshi, Amol M. & Johnson, Evan, 2021. "Do public R&D subsidies produce jobs? Evidence from the SBIR/STTR program," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    16. Arash Kordestani & Setayesh Sattari & Kaveh Peighambari & Pejvak Oghazi, 2017. "Exclude Me Not: The Untold Story of Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Sweden," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-22, September.
    17. Robert Huggins & Piers Thompson, 2015. "Entrepreneurship, innovation and regional growth: a network theory," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 103-128, June.
    18. Stefan Schneck, 2020. "Times are a Changin’? The Emergence of New Firms and Rank Reshuffling," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-33, March.
    19. Omer Majeed & Antonio Balaguer & David Hansell & Luke Hendrickson & Abasi Latcham & Tessa Satherley, 2021. "What Drives High Growth? Characteristics of Australian Firms," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 97(318), pages 350-364, September.
    20. Maresch, Daniela & Leo, Hannes & Walsh, Steven T., 2023. "Hotspurs in, sober bores out: A call and an agenda for entrepreneurship and innovation policies that foster rapidly scaling ventures," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:loceco:v:27:y:2012:i:1:p:33-49. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/index.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.