Understanding the Entrepreneurial Process: Tracking New Firm Creation

The Social Change Project at the Mercatus Center presented a lecture by Paul D. Reynolds, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy at the George Mason University. 

Professor Reynolds provided an introduction and overview of the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) research program: a United States effort that tracks the business creation process based on a cohort of nascent enterprises identified at the earliest stages of business creation. Reflecting the active efforts of 12 million nascent entrepreneurs in over 7 million start-ups, of which about one third become operational new firms. The analysis considers what happens in the start-up process as well as what factors lead to different outcomes.

Paul D. Reynolds is Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University. Prior to joining the School of Public Policy, Dr. Reynolds was the Distinguished Visiting Professor at Florida International University and the Professor of Entrepreneurship at Babson College and the London Business School. He is the recipient of the 2004 International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research provided by Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research and the Swedish Business Development Agency (the "Swedish Prize"). Dr. Reynolds' research investigates new firm creation and entrepreneurship, with a special focus on the analysis of start-up processes in the United States and cross national efforts. He was the founding co-coordinating principal investigator of the first U.S. Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED I) and was the founding co-ordination of the Global Entrepreneurship research program (GEM). He is now the Co-Principal Investigator for PSED II.