The Economic Benefits and Costs of Entrepreneurship: A Review of the Research (Foundations and Trends(r) in Entrepreneurship)

The Economic Benefits and Costs of Entrepreneurship examines to what extent recent empirical evidence can collectively and systematically substantiate the claim of the economic benefits of entrepreneurship. The authors review the empirical literature and provide an answer to the question "what is the contribution of entrepreneurs to the economy in comparison to their counterparts?" Using four measures, the authors quantify the economic benefits of entrepreneurs along the following parameters -- employment generation and dynamics, innovation, productivity and growth, and the role of entrepreneurship in increasing individuals' utility levels. The Economic Benefits and Costs of Entrepreneurship is the first review of the primary empirical literature in this area. More precisely, it is the first review of high quality economics and management studies, focusing on various types of contributions that entrepreneurs can make to the economy in terms of quantifiable measures and evaluating the entrepreneurs' performance in these areas relative to their counterparts.