Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research

The Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research is an award granted to “a person who has produced scientific work of outstanding quality and importance, thereby giving a significant contribution to theory-building concerning entrepreneurship and small business development, the role and importance of new firm formation and the role of SMEs in economic development”. It is an important global award for research on entrepreneurship. The Prize has been awarded annually since its inception in 1996, although between 1996 and 2008, the prize was called the International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research. The prize currently consists of the statuette "The Hand of God”, created by Swedish Sculptor Carl Milles, and a Prize sum of 100,000 euros.

The organizations behind the Prize are the Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research (FSF), the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Nutek) and the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN).

In 1996 Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research (FSF) and the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth (Nutek) instituted the International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research. In 2008 the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) joined FSF and Nutek to become the third partner in awarding the Prize. At the same time the Prize sum was doubled to 100,000 euros, the name of the Prize was changed, and the procedure for nominating and evaluating prospective Award Winners was strengthened. The partnership of IFN became possible thanks to a donation by the Swedish entrepreneur and industrialist Rune Andersson and his holding company Mellby Gård AB.

According to the statutes the Award should be given to “a person who has produced scientific work of outstanding quality and importance, thereby giving a significant contribution to theory-building concerning entrepreneurship and small business development, the role and importance of new firm formation and the role of SMEs in economic development.”

Hence, the prime reason for receiving the Award is outstanding scientific achievement. In addition, other aspects may be factored in. The ambition behind the Award is threefold:

Over a longer time span the Award winning contributions should reflect the extraordinary width of entrepreneurship as a social science field, spanning the entire spectrum from anthropology to theoretical microeconomics, and its methodological diversity.

Another dimension concerns what aspects of entrepreneurship that can be rewarded. Here at least three important aspects come to mind:

A number of distinguished entrepreneurship scholars are invited in May–June every year to nominate candidates. The invitation is extended to:

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