Preface
The contributions forming the different chapters in this book were selected through a referee process from papers that were presented and discussed at the fourteenth Uddevalla Symposium and the third International Symposium of Entrepreneurship of E-Lab, 16–18 June 2011,1 held at the University of Bergamo, Italy. The overall theme was ‘Entrepreneurial Knowledge, Technology and Transformation of Regions’. The purpose of the symposium was to contribute to an increased understanding of the role of entrepreneurial knowledge and technology for the transformation of regions by means of the entry, growth and exit of firms.
The organizers of this fourteenth Uddevalla Symposium were the University West, Trollhättan, Sweden, and the E-Lab at the University of Bergamo, in co-operation with the School of Public Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA. The symposium was also financially supported by the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (CEnSE), Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping, Sweden; the Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovations Studies (CESIS), Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden; and Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping, Sweden. The organizers of the symposium also thank the Municipality of Uddevalla, Sweden, for sponsoring the Best Paper Awards.
The authors and the editors thank the symposium co-ordinator, Ms Iréne Bernhard, University West, Trollhättan, Sweden, for valuable editorial assistance.
Charlie Karlsson
Börje Johansson
Roger Stough
Jönköping, Sweden, and Fairfax, Virginia,
6 November 2012
Note
1 Uddevalla Symposium is an international scientific symposium established in 1998 in Uddevalla, Sweden. The primary objective is to foster research collaboration and bring together leading-edge views between experts, researchers and insightful practitioners from various fields of regional science, international business, economics, entrepreneur-ship and small business economics as well as from regional economics, regional planning, economic geography/economic history/political science and sociology in order to increase our knowledge as regards research questions related to ‘Entrepreneurship and Regional Development’. For further information on the Uddevalla Symposium, use the link: http://www.symposium.hv.se.