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The Knowledge Filter, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Growth

Author

Listed:
  • Bo Carlsson

    (Case Western Reserve University University, 111 18 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7235,)

  • Zoltan J. Acs

    (University of Baltimore)

  • David B. Audretsch

    (Max-Planck Institute of Economics, Jena, Germany)

  • Pontus Braunerhjelm

    (Royal Institute of Technology)

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between knowledge creation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth in the United States over the last 150 years. According to the "new growth theory", investments in knowledge and human capital generate economic growth via spillovers of knowledge. But the theory does not explain how or why spillovers occur, or why large investments in R+D do not always result in economic growth. What is missing is "the knowledge filter" - the distinction between general knowledge and economically useful knowledge. Also missing is a mechanism (such as entrepreneurship) converting economically relevant knowledge into economic activity. This paper shows that the unprecedented increase in R+D spending in the United States during and after World War II was converted into economic activity via incumbent firms in the early postwar period and increasingly via new ventures in the last few decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Carlsson & Zoltan J. Acs & David B. Audretsch & Pontus Braunerhjelm, 2007. "The Knowledge Filter, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Growth," Jena Economics Research Papers 2007-057, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    • Handle: RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2007-057
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The “Knowledge Filter” and the New Economy
      by Dick Langlois in Organizations and Markets on 2010-05-29 00:21:44

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    Cited by:

    1. Zoltán J. Ács & Lawrence A. Plummer & Ryan Sutter, 2015. "Penetrating the knowledge filter in “rust belt” economies," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 17, pages 320-343, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Eric Berkers, 2008. "Tastes differ: Comparing company strategies, innovation trajectories and knowledge sources in Dutch soft drink production in the 1930s," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(3), pages 351-367.
    3. Zoltan J. Acs, 2008. "State of Literature on Small to Medium-Size Enterprises and Entrepreneurship in Low-Income Communities," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 32, pages 473-494, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Ricardo Moutinho & Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira & Arnaldo Coelho & José Pires Manso, 2016. "Determinants of knowledge-based entrepreneurship: an exploratory approach," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 171-197, March.
    5. Pamela Mueller, 2007. "Exploiting Entrepreneurial Opportunities: The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 355-362, April.
    6. Dirk Fornahl & Axel Johannes Schaffer & Jochen Siegele, 2009. "Regional per Capita-Income - The Importance of Region-Specific Production Factors," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 145(II), pages 155-185, June.
    7. Paul Bishop, 2012. "Knowledge, diversity and entrepreneurship: a spatial analysis of new firm formation in Great Britain," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(7-8), pages 641-660, September.
    8. Ronja Kirschning & Matthias Mrożewski, 2023. "The role of entrepreneurial absorptive capacity for knowledge spillover entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 105-120, January.
    9. Jan Gunnarsson & Torsten Wallin, 2011. "An evolutionary approach to regional systems of innovation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 321-340, May.
    10. David J. Miller & Zoltan J. Acs, 2013. "Backing the horse or the jockey? University knowledge commercialization in the entrepreneurial age," Chapters, in: Tüzin Baycan (ed.), Knowledge Commercialization and Valorization in Regional Economic Development, chapter 2, pages 23-45, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Zouha?er M¡¯Chirgui, 2012. "Assessing the Performance of Business Incubators: Recent France Evidence," Business and Management Research, Business and Management Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 1(1), pages 62-76, March.
    12. Maribel Guerrero & David Urbano, 2014. "Academics’ start-up intentions and knowledge filters: an individual perspective of the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 57-74, June.
    13. Mueller, Pamela, 2005. "Exploring the knowledge filter: how entrepreneurship and university-industry relations drive economic growth," Freiberg Working Papers 2005/17, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    14. Martin Carree & Antonio Malva & Enrico Santarelli, 2014. "The contribution of universities to growth: empirical evidence for Italy," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 393-414, June.
    15. Moutinho, Ricardo & Au-Yong-Oliveira, Manuel & Coelho, Arnaldo & Manso, José Pires, 2015. "Beyond the “Innovation's Black-Box”: Translating R&D outlays into employment and economic growth," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 45-58.
    16. Gurrieri, Antonia Rosa, 2008. "Knowledge network dissemination in a family-firm sector," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2380-2389, December.
    17. Mueller, Pamela, 2005. "Exploiting entrepreneurial opportunities: the impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth," Freiberg Working Papers 2005/16, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    18. Zoltan Acs & Lawrence A. Plummer & Ryan Sutter, 2007. "Penetrating the Knowledge Filter in the Rust Belt," Jena Economics Research Papers 2007-058, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    19. David B. Audretsch, 2021. "Have we oversold the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 849-856, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    knowledge; economic growth; entrepreneurship; spillovers; history;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • N90 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - General, International, or Comparative

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