Title: The impact of entrepreneurial capital and rapidly growing firms: the Canadian example

Authors: Christian Keen, Hamid Etemad

Addresses: University of Southern Denmark, 55 Campusvej, 5230 Odense, Denmark. ' Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, 1001 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, H3A 1G5, Canada

Abstract: World-class competitiveness is no longer an option for firms seeking growth and survival in the increasingly competitive, dynamic and interconnected world. This paper expands on the concept of entrepreneurial capital (EC) and formalises it as a catalyst that augments other productive factors. It provides empirical evidence from small, young, high-growth enterprises that EC contributes significantly to their growth through such augmentation. As emerging industries and regions face similar challenges as those of high and rapidly-growing smaller enterprises in increasingly more hostile environments that also suffer from poor resources, this research offers significant lessons with implications for emerging firms, industries and associated regions that aspire to grow faster.

Keywords: entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial capital; SMEs; rapidly growing firms; Canada; small and medium-sized enterprises; firm growth.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2011.039007

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2011 Vol.12 No.3, pp.273 - 289

Published online: 11 Oct 2014 *

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