USA, University of Baltimore
USA, Indiana University
For their research on the role of small firms in the economy, especially the role of small firms in innovation.
Motivation
Professor Zoltan J. Acs and Professor David B. Audretsch have together in joint and their own work made a number of significant contributions to entrepreneurship and small business research. They have tackled an impressive number of important questions concerning the role of small firms in the economy, and developed a rich body of empirical analyses.
Their collective seminal work on the role of small firms in innovation deserves special recognition, especially on two key methodological issues. We are indebted to their systematic analysis of how this role varies depending on the characteristics of industries, and how conclusions concerning the role of small firms in innovation are sensitive to the type of measure of innovative activity that is designed and applied.
In addition to their own impressive research contributions, Professors Acs and Audretsch have made important contributions to boost entrepreneurship and small business research more generally, not least as a subfield within economics. This includes the organization of several advanced conferences and the editing of numerous books, but the single most important contribution of this kind was the establishing of the journal Small Business Economics. Under their joint leadership this journal has developed into a high quality source for a community of scholars.
Titles, dates and places given above refer to the time of the Award.
Documents
Acs and Audretsch Presentation.pdf
Zoltan J Acs Biography.pdf
David B Audretsch Biography.pdf
Acs and Audretsch Prize Lecture.pdf