 The purpose of this review is to investigate the extent to which perceived difficulties concerning access to finance discourage potential and existing entrepreneurs from demanding external finance. It focuses on evidence relating to the barriers to accessing finance that can arise because of...

Although much attention has focussed on the determinants of firms' innovation performance, the relationship between innovation and business performance is less well defined. In this paper we use data from identical plant level surveys conducted in six regions of the UK, Germany and Ireland to...

Innovation support for SMEs is considered from the point of view of the "needs" of SMEs in the context of a specific regional economy--London's Lee Valley region. As identified in the literature and, more specifically, in a survey of 100 innovating SMEs in the study region, attention is focused...

In this paper we are concerned with the nature and extent of product and process innovation and adoption of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in manufacturing plants and SMEs. The paper is based on extensive postal surveys conducted in southeast (SE) England, Northern Ireland...

The paper presents findings from recent research on the policy role and experience of a number of Regional Technology Initiatives (RTIs) aimed at supporting innovation and technology transfer, particularly in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in the English regions. The findings are...