Call for papers: "Entrepreneurship and Intangibles"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business.

In many OECD countries, investment in intangible assets is growing rapidly. In some cases this investment matches or exceeds investment in traditional capital such as machinery, equipment and buildings (OECD 2013). Intensified global competition, ICTs, new business models and the growing importance of the services sector have all amplified the importance of intangible assets to firms, industries and national economies. Compared to tangible assets, intangibles or knowledge-based resources are among the most important determinants of institution, business and industry performance.

These intangible factors affect firm growth and economic development. Many of them are related to human capital and knowledge, as driving factors of individual and aggregate performance. New factors and new ideas are valued differently by different economic agents. Often, entrepreneurial opportunities arising from intangibles are best exploited by new entrants. In other cases, corporate entrepreneurship provides the best tool to develop and exploit intangible factors. Along this line, the entrepreneurial capital in incumbent and newly formed firms provides a form of intangible asset that is complementary to knowledge capital, as it summarises the ability in the recognition and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities in a company.

Recognising the role of intangibles in promoting, sustaining and complementing entrepreneurship, the aim of this special issue is to examine the role of intangible assets in the field of entrepreneurship and to enhance our understanding of the way entrepreneurs are able to develop or exploit intangible assets to contribute to firms’ growth or regional economic development.

This issue will consider qualitative and quantitative empirical studies, and theoretical and conceptual research contributions. As the literature on intangibles is found across multiple disciplines, we encourage cross-disciplinary approaches to advance our understanding of the intangibles-entrepreneurship nexus. Therefore, contributions from the field of entrepreneurship, business, economics, management, geography and regional studies are welcome and might be considered for this special issue.

This issue coincides with the 13th International Conference of the Society for Global Business & Economic Development (SGBED). Authors are encouraged, but not required, to submit their manuscripts on entrepreneurship and intangibles to the conference to get feedback prior to revising for journal submission.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Entrepreneurship and the knowledge economy
• Human capital, intangibles assets and entrepreneurship
• Intellectual capital, organisational capital and entrepreneurship
• Intangibles and value creation
• Measuring and managing intangibles in entrepreneurial contexts
• Start ups, new ventures and intangible assets
• Family firms, family entrepreneurship and intangibles
• Corporate entrepreneurship and intangibles
• Innovation, new technologies, new business models and intangibles
• Intangibles, entrepreneurship and economic development
• Intangible capital and growth: measurement methods for companies and economies
• Intellectual property and innovation
• Learning, dynamic capabilities and the management of intangibles in learning organisations
• Entrepreneurial orientation, intangible assets and firm growth

Important Dates
Submission of manuscripts: 30 September, 2014
Notification to authors: 20 December, 2015
Final versions due: 28 February, 2015