Innovation certainly is the thing these days. Seems like everyone’s talking about it, we all want it and we all think it’s a good thing for our economy to do and our government to support. Last week I attended an engaging session on innovation run by Deloitte. It was a very upbeat event and…
Two centres for social innovation
Creating physical and virtual centres for the promotion of social innovation appears to be an emerging trend. Here are two examples. In Toronto, Canada, the Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) is a Toronto-based social enterprise with a mission to catalyze social innovation. CSI’s shared workspace model offers office amenities to initiatives that are typically under-resourced, increasing social capital and connecting…
Recipes for growth, democracy (entrepreneurship and innovation) in an increasingly integrated world economy
BOOKS REVIEWED Dani Rodrik (2007) One economics, many recipes; globalization, institutions and economic growth, Princeton University Press, Princeton Dani Rodrik (2011) The globalization paradox; why markets, states and democracies can’t coexist, Oxford University Press, Oxford Dani Rodrik is the Rafiq Hariri Professor of International Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard…
Drucker: Innovation and entrepreneurship — advice for the "purposeful entrepreneur"
BOOK REVIEW: Peter F. Drucker (1985) Innovation and entrepreneurship; practice and principles, William Heinmann, London Peter Drucker was born in Vienna in 1909 and educated in Austria and England. He was a renowned business management advisor and a prolific writer. In 2009, four years after his death and 100 years since his birth, Drucker was celebrated…
EARTH University, Costa Rica
Since 1990, EARTH University’s innovative educational approach has been preparing young people from Latin America, the Caribbean and other regions, including Africa and Asia, to contribute to the sustainable development of their countries and construct a prosperous and just society. EARTH offers a rigorous four-year undergraduate program in agricultural sciences and natural resources management and…
More developing countries participate in this year's Global Entrepreneurship Week
Good to see the list of developing countries participating in the annual Global Entrepreneurship Week growing. There are about 120 countries participating in 2011 (14-20 November). The Global Entrepreneurship Week is an initiative of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in the USA. It began in 2008 and has grown rapidly. Global Entrepreneurship Week helps map…
Start-up rates begin to show signs of slowdown in most OECD countries in 2011
The OCED has released new data that indicates start-up rates of new firms fell precipitously in all OECD countries where data is available. In subsequent quarters, start-up rates began picking up, toward pre-crisis levels, but in recent quarters this momentum stalled. With few exceptions, start-up rates are once again beginning to show signs of a…
AMEX pledges US$100-million for digital start-ups — in the US
This article by Roger Cheng (CNET News, November 8, 2011) reports on American Express’s announcement that it will invest $100 million in startups that are designed to address mobile and online payments, security, reward and loyalty programs, and other forms of digital commerce. Rather than launch its own major initiatives in the way Visa and Google has, AMEX will support…
Egypt's increasing informal economy
Ghada Barsoum, professor of public policy at the American University in Cairo (AUC) claims that the informal economy has become the “number one source of income in Egypt,” as a result of “the lack of opportunities in the formal economy.” Seventy-five percent of Egyptian youth, according to Barsoum, are working in this situation. Maurice Chammah’s article, “With…
ICTs as an Enabler for Private Sector Development
This October, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) its annual Information Economy report, which focused on the role of information and communications technology (ICT) in enabling private sector development: Information Economy Report 2011; ICTs as an Enabler for Private Sector Development (PSD). The report shows that the potential of leveraging ICTs to develop…
Female Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries
This summary of research by Maria Minniti and Wim Naudé on Female Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries provides an interesting snapshot on the gender dimensions of entrepreneurship in developing economies. It presents a series of stylized facts on what is known from the last 30 years of research on female self-employment and new business creation. These include: Significantly…
Accelerating Entrepreneurship in the Arab World
This month, the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the Forum of Young Global Leaders (YGL), in collaboration with Booz & Company, launched the Accelerating Entrepreneurship in the Arab World report, which highlights ten recommendations to promote a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem across the region. Policy-makers, business leaders, academia and civil society leaders are all aiming to…
9 Wacky Student Business Plans That Could Succeed
This is a great little piece by David Koeppel in The Fiscal Times (24 October 2011) describing Columbia Business School Professor Murray Low’s work with students. Low welcomes creative craziness from his students because sometimes out of inspired madness, comes the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg. Students bring their offbeat ideas to the school’s annual “Outrageous Business Plan Competition”…
Doing Business 2012
The World Bank Group’s Doing Business team have just released the annual report for this year: Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent World. This is the ninth in a series of annual reports comparing business regulations in 183 economies. It measures regulations affecting 11 areas of everyday business activity. “During this time of…
The magic sauce of entrepreneurship — another Kauffman Foundation video
The Kauffman Foundation has released another video on entrepreneurship: the Kauffman Sketchbook series. These are are a useful way of getting a clear message across. This video is based on the Kauffman claim that “the best indicator of a country’s growth is the number of new firms started every year”. However, this is not as…
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Josh Lerner (2009) Boulevard of Broken Dreams: why public efforts to boost entrepreneurship and venture capital have failed–and what to do about it, Princeton University Press, Princeton Discussing the complex history of Silicon Valley and other pioneering centers of venture capital, Josh Lerner uncovers the extent of government influence in prompting growth. He examines the public…
Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Flight Global Poverty
Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo (2011) Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Flight Global Poverty, Public Affairs, New York For more than fifteen years Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo have worked with the poor in dozens of countries spanning five continents, trying to understand the specific problems that come with poverty…