Call for papers 2010 Ratio Colloquium for Young Social Scientists

Understanding firm growth

Stockholm, August 12-14, 2010

The aim of this conference is to bring together researchers in different fields dealing with firm growth. In this quickly growing area of research, there is a big need for interdisciplinary communication. We therefore invite young scholars, including graduate students, in economics, economic history, entrepreneurship, management, sociology, statistics, psychology, and related disciplines to submit proposals for a two-day colloquium/workshop to be held in Stockholm. In addition to ordinary paper sessions, there will be two plenary sessions and two dinners.

One plenary lecture will be given by Professor David Audretsch. His research focuses on the links between entrepreneurship, government policy, innovation, economic development and global competitiveness. David has over one hundred scholarly articles in leading academic journals and he is the author of the books Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth and The Entrepreneurial Society. David has been recognized as being among the 60 most important economists of all time and he is also cofounder and co-editor ofSmall Business Economics.

The other plenary lecture will be given by Dr Alex Coad. Alex received his Ph.D from Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne in 2007. He has since then published several papers on firm growth in well-renowned academic journals. His book The Growth of Firms – A Survey of Theories and Empirical Evidencewas released in 2009.

Papers dealing with the following areas are particularly welcome:

• The role of high-growth firms

• Determinants of the growth of firms

• Growth ambitions and attitudes towards growth

• Firm growth and the characteristics of the entrepreneur

• The persistence of firm growth

• Barriers to growth

• Post-entry performance

• Firm growth in a historical perspective

• Innovation and firm growth

The papers submitted are expected to be work in progress, but still not accepted for publication. The 2010 Ratio Young Scientist Award is awarded to the best paper presented at the colloquium. The winning author will receive 1,000 Euros.

The number of papers that will be accepted is limited to 16. The conference and lodging will be free of charge, and we will reimburse economy-class travel expenses. To apply for the conference, send a paper or an extended abstract, a one-page summary of your research interests and a CV to sven-olov.daunfeldt@ratio.se and dan.johansson@ratio.se

The conference is arranged by The Ratio Institute, an independent research institute in Stockholm.

For more information, see www.ratio.se/eng

Deadline for proposals: April 1, 2010.