Advancing theories of firm growth by scrutinizing assumptions

摘要

Small entrepreneurial firms are powerful engines of innovation and the economy, yet it is not easy for them to survive and grow in an intensely competitive market. Firm growth remains one of the core issues in the entrepreneur-ship literature. Most studies, however, fail to realize that growth has multiple modes or to explain phenomena other than variance in the rate and amount of growth, which seems to generate less and less intriguing theoretical findings. As a result, this field needs new perspectives to elicit fresh ideas to help it find its way out of its predicament. New Perspectives on Firm Growth, edited by Per Davidsson and Johan Wiklund, two internationally recognized names in the entrepreneurship research community, adeptly challenges various hidden assumptions of conventional research on firm growth, and therefore serves as an enlightening guidebook. The editors organize ten papers, which had been published by leading entrepreneur-ship journals, into a logically coherent book, which scrutinizes seldom-questioned assumptions in studies about the essence, antecedents, outcomes and process of small firm growth. The four research issues intertwine to constitute the four parts in this volume.