Knowledge creation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth: a historical review

This article explores the relationship between knowledge creation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth in the United States over the last 150 years. Distinguishing between general knowledge and economically useful knowledge, we examine the changes over time in the locus and content of new knowledg...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Industrial and corporate change 2009-12, Vol.18 (6), p.1193-1229
Main Authors: Carlsson, Bo, Acs, Zoltan J., Audretsch, David B., Braunerhjelm, Pontus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Correlation analysis
Economic activity
Economic growth
Entrepreneurship
firm
Growth rates
Information society
innovation
Knowledge
Knowledge management
Knowledge transfer
Laboratories
perspective
R&D
Research & development
Research & development expenditures
Research and development
Studies
technology
time
U.S.A
united-states
universities
World War II
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Summary:This article explores the relationship between knowledge creation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth in the United States over the last 150 years. Distinguishing between general knowledge and economically useful knowledge, we examine the changes over time in the locus and content of new knowledge creation: the role of universities, particularly engineering schools and land-grant universities, industrial laboratories, and corporate research and development (R&D) laboratories prior to World War II. The practical orientation of US academic R&D and the close research interaction between academia and industry are noted. We study the unprecedented increase in R&D spending in the United States during and after World War II and how it was converted into economic activity via incumbent firms in the early postwar period and increasingly via new ventures in the last few decades.
ISSN:0960-6491
1464-3650
1464-3650
DOI:10.1093/icc/dtp043