Phillip H. Phan, Sankaran Venkataraman, and S. Ramakrishna Velamuri (Eds.), Entrepreneurship in Emerging Regions Around the World: Theory, Evidence and Implications [Hardcover], Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008. 344 pp. $150.00

Three leading researchers in this subject have edited Entrepreneurship in Emerging Regions. The ten chapters in this edited book are the compilation of papers presented during a 2006 academic conference at the Indian School of Business (Hyderabad, India). Each chapter deals with a specific research subject pertaining to emerging regions in India, China, Ireland, Eastern Europe, North and South America, and North and Southeast Asia. These chapters have been written for scholars interested in emerging entrepreneurship, business creation and development, policy making and economic development drivers, venture capital, and business responses to entrepreneurial opportunities in emerging economies. The editors’ intention is to present a critical perspective of this research field in order to encourage new thoughts and approaches for future research. This book is structured in four parts; the editors provide an outstanding introduction that recapitulates and links each of them. The first part of the book entitled “Institutional Determinants of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Regions” is composed of three chapters. These chapters focus on the key determinants that can clarify why some regions become fundamental centers of techno-entrepreneurial activities while other regions do not. The authors concentrate on some variables related to institutions, capabilities and the access to resources. The first chapter, “The Dynamics of an Emerging Entrepreneurial Region in Ireland,” by F. Roche et al. proposes some conceptual foundations of the book. This chapter focuses on Venkataraman’s (2004) virtual cycle to understand the factors of the successful software cluster in Dublin. Some theoretical implications and future research issues are also discussed. The second chapter, “The Entrepreneurial Drivers of Regional Economic Transformation in Brazil,” by J. Cezar et al. is based on the four principles of the effectuation theory proposed by Sarasvathy (2001). This chapter analyzes the entrepreneurial drivers of economic transformation in Brazil. The case of the MOVAL Company is also studied. Implications and future research issues are discussed. The third chapter, “Institutional Transformation during the Emergence of New York’s Silicon Alley,” by A.T. Arikan shows the growing and declining phenomena of the media industry in the Silicon Alley during the ‘90s. This case illustrates how early networking activities of entrepreneurs influence the creation of a new media community. This first part of the book, based on Venkataraman’s (2004) conceptual framework, underlines the importance of explaining the complexity of entrepreneurial activity as path dependence and recursive interactions among factors (tangibles and intangibles). The second part of this book, “Government and Non-Governmental Organization Influences on Entrepreneurship in Emerging Regions,” is composed of two chapters. The authors are focused on the role of the government in the transformation of emerging regions. Some implications from a critical perspective are offered to policy makers. Chapter four, “Institutional Entrepreneurship in the Emerging Regional Economies of the Western Balkans,” by D. Fletcher et al. introduces their own notion of institutional entrepreneurship: “rather than focus on special individuals as the key agents of institutional entrepreneurship, we draw attention to the cumulative effect of local action strategies in enacting entrepreneurship” (p. 126). This chapter shows at least two possibilities for further research in this subject from the Institutional Theory perspective. First, this theory has not been sufficiently applied in empirical research in emerging regions. Second, the institutional transformation as a consequence of local level changes through individual acts is under-examined. Some implications are discussed. Chapter five is entitled “The Role of Government in the Formation of Late-Emerging Entrepreneurial Clusters of India” by K. Ramachandran and R. Sougata. This chapter is based on an exploratory study of the role of entrepreneurial leadership in creating and developing clusters in the Information Technology (IT) …