ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews entrepreneurship theories that situate the entrepreneur within the broader conception of economic growth and change. Entrepreneurship theories share a perspective on development that puts human agency at the center of the development process. The key figures are entrepreneurs carrying out venture creation or similar functions that generate development through the innovation process. Most contemporary research on the regional development implications of entrepreneurship follows from either the Schumpterian or the Kirznerian perspectives. Research on entrepreneurship at the regional level has blossomed since the late 1990s, perhaps associated with a recognition of the growing importance of innovation to long-term economic growth, as well as the widespread uncertainty about viable sources of jobs in the face of the heightened international mobility of capital. The primary application of entrepreneurship theories at the local level in the United States and Canada is through business development strategies.
