The Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research
Small Bus Econ
The Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research
Magnus Henrekson 0 1 2
Anders Lundstro¨m 0 1 2
JEL Classifications 0 1 2
0 A. Lundstro ̈m Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research , Ja ̈rntorgsgatan 3, 703 61 O ̈ rebro , Sweden
1 M. Henrekson (&) Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) , P.O. Box 55665, 102 15 Stockholm , Sweden
2 Magnus Henrekson is CEO of the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) and Jacob Wallenberg Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics. Anders Lundstro ̈m, who initiated the Prize, was the CEO of the Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research (FSF) from 1997 to 2008. He is also Visiting Professor at the School of Innovation, Design and Engineering, Ma ̈lardalen University
The International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research was introduced in 1996, and it is now firmly established as the most prestigious award for outstanding research contributions in this subject area. Thanks to a generous donation from the Swedish entrepreneur Rune Andersson, it has been possible to make a number of changes aimed at strengthening global recognition of the Prize even further: the name is being changed to the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, the financial side to the Prize is being roughly doubled to 100,000 euros, and the system for nomination, evaluation, and selection of future Award Winners is becoming more structured and transparent. We present here the background to and the organization(s) behind the Award, briefly categorize the winners in the 1996-2008 period, describe the present and the future system for nomination, evaluation, and selection of Award Winners, and discuss the criteria for the selection of Prize candidates and Award-winning contributions.
Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Research award; Small business
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L5
L26
In 1996 the Swedish Foundation for Small Business
Research (FSF) and the Swedish Agency for
Economic and Regional Growth (NUTEK) established
the International Award for Entrepreneurship and
Small Business Research (also known as The
FSFNUTEK Award). This Prize is awarded annually and
consists of the statuette ‘‘The Hand of God’’, created
by Swedish Sculptor Carl Milles,1 and a financial
1 Carl Milles was arguably Sweden’s most prominent sculptor
in the 20th century. ‘‘The Hand of God’’ was one of Milles’ last
works before his death. Originally, Milles created it to honor
the Swedish innovator and entrepreneur C. E. Johansson who
revolutionized precision measuring of auto and other industrial
parts which made the assembly line possible, and the original
still stands in Johansson’s hometown of Eskilstuna.
award of SEK 0.5 million in 2008 (roughly USD
80,000).
In the 13 years since its inception the Prize has
become firmly established as the foremost global
award for research on entrepreneurship.2 In 2009 the
Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) is
joining FSF and NUTEK to become the third partner
in awarding the Prize. At the same time, the Prize
sum is being increased to 100,000 euros (roughly
USD 150,000 in 2008), and the procedure for
nominating and evaluating prospective Award
Winners is being strengthened. The name of the Prize is
also being changed into the Global Award for
Entrepreneurship Research. The partnership of IFN
has become possible thanks to a generous donation by
the Swedish entrepreneur and industrialist Rune
Andersson and his holding company Mellby Ga˚rd
AB.
Given that the Prize is now entering a new phase,
we deem the time ripe to present the Award more
broadly, and in this article we cover the following
aspects: a brief presentation of the organizations
behind the Prize, the nomination and selection
process of Winners, and a presentation and
categorization of Award Winners between 1996 and 2008.
The categorization of the 1996–2008 Winners later in
this essay provides the backdrop for a central part of
this article, namely the discussion of the appropriate
criteria for the selection of future Award Winners.
We also describe herein the system that will be used,
effective from 2009, to nominate, evaluate, select and
Footnote 1 continued
Throughout the 1930s Milles worked at Cranbrook Academy
of Art near Detroit. Thanks to a contribution from the United
Auto Workers, ‘‘Hand of God’’ was recast and donated to the
city of Detroit in honor of Frank Murphy, Michigan Governor
and U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice. It now stands
outside the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice in Detroit.
2 The Kauffman Foundation established the Kauffman Prize
Medal in 2005. The Medal, which includes a USD 50,000
prize, is awarded every 2 years to one scholar under the age of
40 years who is working in the USA and ‘‘whose research has
made a significant contribution to entrepreneurship.’’ The
inaugural Medal Winner was Scott Stern, an economist from
Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management,
and in 2007, the Medal was awarded to Toby Stuart, an
organizational sociologist (...truncated)