RENT XXXI Conference in Lund, Sweden, on November 15-17, 2017

The main theme of the conference: “Relevance in Entrepreneurship Research”

Traditionally, entrepreneurship and small business research has been regarded as a practical and relevant field, and offering knowledge to be used to solve various societal problems including job creation, the funding of new companies and industries, as well as regional development. As the field is becoming more and more institutionalised, the academic rigour in research has been emphasised at the expense of relevance, triggering an intense frustration among many entrepreneurship and small business scholars concerning the gap between relevance and rigour in our research – an issue that will be discussed when we meet at the RENT Conference in Lund 2017.

Conference Organisation: Sten K. Johnson Centre for Entrepreneurship, Lund University, Sweden

Marie Löwegren

Senior Lecturer, Sten K. Johnson Centre for Entrepreneurship, Lund University, Sweden

Hans Landström

Professor, Sten K. Johnson Centre for Entrepreneurship, Lund University, Sweden

Maria Pihel

Department Administrator, Sten K. Johnson Centre for Entrepreneurship, Lund University, Sweden

Lottie Norrsén

International Communication Officer, Sten K. Johnson Centre for Entrepreneurship, Lund University

Craig Mitchell

Research Coordinator, Sten K. Johnson Centre for Entrepreneurship, Lund University, Sweden

Introduction

The research in entrepreneurship and small business has prospered and grown considerably during the past decade in all European countries. Remarkable development has taken place in the research frameworks and methodologies respectively.

Progress in the field of entrepreneurship is not only triggered by the exchange of ideas and new analyses that derive from the interaction among the entrepreneurial community, the policy makers and the academic community. It is also characterised by the growing emphasis on entrepreneurship in policy agendas and business communities all over Europe. It has stimulated dialogue among the private and public entities, and the academic community.

Research on entrepreneurship and on small and medium-sized enterprises has to respond to a challenge of practice and seek answers to the most urgent problems, as well as follow the trend of the most important developments in the contemporary world economy.

Development of the theory of entrepreneurship and studies of small business behaviour and economics should focus on satisfying these new needs of the European science and economy.

The RENT conference is now firmly established as the premier entrepreneurship research conference in Europe and annually brings together approximately 250 leading academics in this field who present and debate cutting edge research in a wide variety of entrepreneurship related topics.