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ation from entrepreneurs. Both experts and governmental authorities opt for fostering entrepreneurship as ‘an appropriate mechanism to face the impacts of the economic crisis’ (GEM 2014, 100). Over the last two decades, extensive literature on the importance of small businesses in the economy has consistently shown that the creation of new businesses drives economic prosperity. As well as playing a crucial role in increasing the competition of emerging sectors, new small businesses are critical for economic growth and innovative capacity in many regions. Job creation, economic growth and poverty reduction are usually the main political interests in entrepreneurship (Battilana and Casciaro 2012; Willis 2011). Entrepreneurship is thus a driving force within the economy, particularly because of entrepreneurs’ innovative nature (Fuellhart and Glasmeier 2003; Maxwell and Stone 2004). More recently, authors have examined entrepreneurs in terms of their activity from the perspective of new business creation (Bryson, Wood, and Keeble 1993). To break new scholarly ground in the understanding of the role of small business and entrepreneurship in economic and social development,
*Domingo Ribeiro-Soriano (2017) Small business and entrepreneurship: