Arshed, N., Chalmers, D. and Matthews, R. (2019) ‘Institutionalizing women’s enterprise policy: a legitimacy-based perspective’. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 43, 3: 553-581.

In this article, the researchers explore the limited success of policies to increase the quantity and quality of women-owned businesses. They adopt an ethnographic approach, with an in-depth case study that involves a series of interviews with civil servants, enterprise agency staff and women entrepreneurs as a new enterprise policy, the ‘Strategic Framework for Women’s Enterprise’, is being introduced in the UK. The study also involves participant observation as one of the researchers works for 3 months an enterprise policy advisor. The study reveals the challenges in getting new policies accepted by the public (i.e. ‘external legitimacy’) and by those involved in their implementation (i.e. ‘internal legitimacy’).

Welter, F. and Baker, T. ‘Moving contexts onto new roads: Clues from other disciplines.’ Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice. June 2020.

This article follows on from the Researcher Profile of Prof Friedericke Welter (Case 15.2). It provides a useful overview of research on entrepreneurship in context and how particular places become a focus for entrepreneurial activity. The authors also discuss how to challenge and improve our theoretical understanding of place in entrepreneurship and outline a ‘roadmap’ for future research in this important area.

Wright, M., Roper, S., Hart, M., and Carter, S., (2015) ‘Joining the dots: building the evidence base for SME growth policy’. International Small Business Journal, 33, 1: 3–11.

This short article introduces a special issue on building the evidence base for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) growth policy. The authors review the themes covered by other contributions to the special issue, including the article below. They also identify a number of directions for future research and policy.

Carter, S., Mwaura, S., Ram, M., Trehan, K., and Jones, T. (2015) ‘Barriers to ethnic minority and women’s enterprise: existing evidence, policy tensions and unsettled questions’. International Small Business Journal, 33, 1: 49–69.

This article reviews the field of diversity with particular reference to ethnic minorities and women engaging in enterprise. The authors examine research evidence on their access to finance, market selection and management skills. They identify a number of tensions and unresolved questions, draw out the implications for policy and practice and identify possible directions for future research.

Arshed, N., Mason, C., and Carter, S. (2016) ‘Exploring the disconnect in policy implementation: a case of enterprise policy in England’. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 34, 8: 1582-1611.

This article examines how far the ineffectiveness of enterprise policy can be attributed to the way it has been implemented. The researchers, who interviewed central government policy-makers, Regional Development Agency staff and business development managers in local enterprise agencies over an extended period, discovered the implementation process was complex and confusing, with fragmented relationships between the actors involved. Contributing factors included the absence of clearly defined objectives and of measurement and evaluation processes