"Given the importance that entrepreneurship and start-up businesses in technology-intensive sectors like life sciences, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, financial technologies, software and others have come to assume in economic development, the access of entrepreneurs to appropriate levels of finance has become a major focus of policymakers in recent decades. Yet, this prominence has led to a variety of policy models across countries and even within countries, as different levels of government have adapted to new challenges by refining or transforming pre-existing institutions and crafting new policy tools. Small Nations, High Ambitions investigates the roots of such policy diversity at the ""subnational"" level, offering in-depth accounts of the evolution of Quebec's and Scotland's policy strategies in the entrepreneurial finance sector and venture capital more specifically.
As compared to other regions and provinces in the United Kingdom and Canada, Quebec and Scottish venture capital ecosystems rely on a high degree of state intervention, either direct (through public investment funds) or indirect (through government-backed, hybrid, or tax-advantaged funds). These two regions can thus be described as ""sponsor states,"" heavily involved in the strategic backing of innovative businesses. Whereas most of the literature on venture capital has focused on economic variables to explain variations in policy models, this book seeks to explain policy divergence in Quebec and Scotland through political and ideological lenses. Its main argument is that the development of venture capital ecosystems in these regions was underpinned by Qubcois and Scottish nationalisms, which induced preferences for policy asymmetry and state intervention."
By:
X. Hubert Rioux
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 155mm,
Spine: 30mm
Weight: 540g
ISBN: 9781487505820
ISBN 10: 1487505825
Series: Studies in Comparative Political Economy and Public Policy
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 04 March 2020
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Graphs, Tables, and Figures Acronyms and Abbreviations Introduction: Hidden Developmental States 1. Minority Nationalism and Economic Policymaking Minority Nationalism and Policy Asymmetry Comparative Political Economy Economic Nationalism Scope and Case Selection Methodology Outline of the Book 2. Explaining Public Involvement in Venture Capital: Theoretical and Historical Overviews Explaining Public Sector Involvement in Venture Capital The Evolution of Public Sector Involvement in Quebec, 1960s–1990s The Evolution of Public Sector Involvement in Scotland, 1960s–1990s 3. Quebec, 1990–2003 The Bourassa II and Johnson Administrations (1989–1994) The Parizeau and Bouchard Governments (1994–1998) The Bouchard and Landry Governments (1998–2003) Concluding Remarks 4. Scotland, 1990–2003 Strategic Policymaking in Pre-Devolution Scotland (1990–1997) The “Statecraft Phase” (1997–2003) Concluding Remarks 5. Quebec, 2003–2018 The First Charest Administration (2003–2007) The Second and Third Charest Administrations (2007–2012) The Marois (2012–2014) and Couillard (2014–2018) Governments Concluding Remarks 6. Scotland, 2003–2018 The Second SLP-SLD Administration (2003–2007) The First SNP Government (2007–2011) The Second and Third SNP Governments (2011–2018) Concluding Remarks 7. Discussion and Conclusions General Overview Evaluation of Findings Final Remarks: Contributions and Avenues for Further Research Bibliography Appendix: List of Interviews
At the time of writing, X. Hubert Rioux was a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow (2017-2019) at the École nationale d’administration publique (ÉNAP).
Reviews for Small Nations, High Ambitions: Economic Nationalism and Venture Capital in Quebec and Scotland
Small Nations, High Ambitions takes a comparative view of the under-studied phenomenon of economic nationalism. The increased visibility of this subject in the contemporary era makes this work especially timely and impressive. - Andre Lecours, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa
