Research Group Knowledge and Technology Transfer announces
BA-Seminar (BA-WW-BS): Economics of Entrepreneurship
Winter Term 2015/16
Lecturer: Dr. Matthias Geissler
Time: Block, Friday, 2.-6. DS (09.20.-18.10) (Start: ca. 11.12.2015), see below for details
Orientation Session: 11.11.2015, 7. DS (18:30-20:00), room to be announced
Location: tba.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS SEMINAR PLEASE SEND AN E-MAIL TO:
matthias.geissler1@tu-dresden.de
Objectives:
Entrepreneurship is a major driving force in dynamic economies. Fueled by ongoing interest of
policy makers to foster successful venture formation, a sizeable scholarly literature on
entrepreneurship has recently emerged in various fields (e .g economics, management, psychology
and geography). This seminar provides an introduction to the essential economic theories and
empirical studies analyzing the phenomenon of entrepreneurship. The agenda covers a broad range
of topics and intentionally cuts across disciplinary boundaries. It comprises elements of economic,
management and psychology research. At the end of the seminar, participants will be able to
understand and critically reflect the scope of entrepreneurial processes, to evaluate entrepreneurship
policies and to assess the potential influence of entrepreneurship on economic growth.
Important note: This course is primarily on the economics of entrepreneurship, its societal impact,
empirical regularities and implications for public policy. Although some topics may be of interest
for (prospective) entrepreneurs, it is not a course teaching you how to become an entrepreneur.
Requirements for participation:
Prior completion of courses in microeconomics innovation and/or start-up management,
statistics/econometrics is helpful (but not mandatory). Term paper and presentation require reading
and understanding of state of the art literature. Good command of English is necessary.
Organization:
All lectures and presentations (including students’) will be in English. The seminar will consist of
two parts: Part one is essentially a lecture. In part two, each participant will present a seminal paper
to the others. Substantial amounts of time will be allocated to classroom discussion. In addition,
each participant will write an essay of 12-15 pages in English. This essay has to be delivered after
the presentation (deadline: 31st March 2016) and should summarize the paper, locate it in the
broader context of the related literature and critically access its content.
The seminar is designed as an intensive course (either 2 x 2 days (Fr/Sa) or 4 x 1 day (Fr), subject
to discussion in the orientation session). Topics are to be chosen in the orientation session.
Credits and grading (5 credits in current regulation):
• 30-minute presentation of a research paper on entrepreneurship (in English).
• Term paper (in English) of 12-15 pages (1.5 line spacing, standard font size) based on the
chosen article. Paper should summarize contents and methods of article and discuss it in
context of the relevant scholarly literature (due March 31st, 2016).
• Attendance at student presentations.
• Active participation in the classroom discussion is expected.
The final grade comprises:
• Term paper (in English). (60%)
• 30-minute presentation (in English). (40%)
Agenda overview (lecture part, preliminary):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Introduction
Theories of entrepreneurship
Born or made? Determinants of entrepreneurship
Financing new ventures
Economic impact of entrepreneurial ventures
Entrepreneurship and the university
Entrepreneurship and economic policy
Introductory reading:
 Parker, S. (2014): The Economics of Entrepreneurship. New York, Cambridge University
Press. (I requested this book, but may take a bit until the SLUB has it).

Carlsson, B., Acs, Z.J., Audretsch, D.B. and P. Braunerhjelm (2009): “Knowledge creation,
entrepreneurship, and economic growth: a historical review”, Industrial and Corporate Change,
18(6), 1193-1229. (available within TU network or via SLUB)

Lazear, E.P. (2004): “Balanced Skills and Entrepreneurship”, American Economic Review,
Papers and Proceedings, May 2004. (optional, this one may not be available via SLUB)
PAPER SUGGESTIONS FOR PRESENTATIONS:
Preliminary! Intended to give you an idea on what to expect! Feel free to suggest a paper
yourself if you have something that fits into one of the topics!
I: Theories and Methods in Entrepreneurship Research
 Mood, C. (2010): “Logistic Regression: Why We Cannot Do What We Think We Can Do,
and What We Can Do About It”, European Sociological Review, 26(1), 67-82.
 Kirzner, I.M. (1997): “Entrepreneurial Discovery and the Competitive Market Process: An
Austrian Approach”, Journal of Economic Literature, 35(1), 60-85.
II: Firm Creation
 Delmar, F. and P. Davidsson (2000): “Where do they come from? Prevalence and characteristics of nascent entrepreneurs”, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 12(1), 1-23.
 Levie, J. (2007): “Immigration, In-Migration, Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship in the United
Kingdom”, Small Business Economics, 28(2), 143-169.
III: Firm Performance
 Lowe, R.A. and A.A.Ziedonis(2006): “Overoptimism and the Performance of Entrepreneurial
Firms”, Management Science, 52(2), 173-186.
 Shane, S. and D.Cable (2002): “Network Ties, Reputation, and the Financing of New
Ventures”, Management Science, 48(3), 364-381.
 Shane, S. and T.Stuart (2002): “Organizational Endowments and the Performance of
University Start-ups”, Management Science, 48(1), 154-170.
IV: Firm financing
 de Bettignies, J. and J.A. Brander (2007): “Financing entrepreneurship: Bank finance
versusventure capital”, Journal of Business Venturing, 22, 808-832.
 Sorenson, O. and T.Stuart (2007): “Liquidity Events and the Geographic Distribution of
Entrepreneurial Activity”, Adminsitrative Science Quarterly, 48(2), 175-201.
V: Firm Growth
 Baum, J.R., Locke, E.A. and K.G.Smith (2001): “A Multidimensional Model of Venture
Growth”, Academy of Management Journal, 44(2), 292-303.
VI: The Impact of Entrepreneurship on Economic Growth
 Audretsch, D. and M.Keilbach (2007): “The localisation of entrepreneurship capital:Evidence
from Germany”, Paper in Regional Science, 86(3), 351-365.
 Audretsch, D., Boente, W., and M.Keilbach (2008): “Entrepreneurship Capital and Its Impact
on Knowledge Diffusion and Firm Performance”, Journal of Business Venturing, 23, 687-698.
 Baumgartner, D., Schulz, T., and I.Seidl (2012): “Quantifying entrepreneurship and its impact
on local economic performance: A spatial assessment in rural Switzerland”Entrepreneurship
and Regional Development, iFirst, 1-29.
VII: Entrepreneurship policies
 Shane, S. (2009): “Why encouraging more people to become entrepreneurs is bad public
policy”, Small Business Economics, 33, 141-149.
VIII: Academic entrepreneurship
 Czarnitzki, D. and A.A. Toole (2010): “Is there a trade-off between academic research and
faculty entrepreneurship? Evidence from US NIH supported biomedical researchers”,
Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 19(5), 505-520.