THE ROLE OF REGIONAL POLICY AND EMBEDDEDNESS IN ENTREPRENEURIAL GROWTH FORMATIONS

A recent trend across the globe is the substantial growth of small businesses that contribute to innovation on all frontiers of their respective local and increasingly global economy. Some authors have attributed the growth of start-ups and small businesses to inefficiencies or opportunities that exist in the market economy. Although this is possible, it would appear that these opportunities do not exist ab initio; rather they can arise from policies of regional type governments. By adopting a regional stance, this study does not underscore the role of national policies in fostering entrepreneurial growth formations but rather seeks to address specifically the significance of regional policies through financing, public-private partnerships, etc. in creating the right atmosphere and embeddedness for new businesses and innovation to thrive. In fact, the primary epistemological proposition of this model is that regional economic growth ex post benefits from ex ante regional government policy through a framework of embeddedness. Adapting a case example in Southern Nigeria in many instances, I provide some exposition for these propositions. In conclusion, I discuss limitations and implications of this study. Implications of the model are directed towards regional policy makers and organizational scholarship.