Entrepreneurship and Knowledge-Based Economies

Entrepreneurs are the persons who offer new products, services and technologies. They can bring the changes through innovation to maximize the social good. Knowledge is the key element of the innovation systems and the institutions which have an important role in its development can be stated as: (1) Universities and academic institutions (develop and transfer knowledge), (2) Government organizations, and (3) Innovative enterprises. Entrepreneurship is linked to economic growth as its main activity lies on transforming ideas into economic opportunities. Entrepreneurship serves as an important vehicle for economic and social prosperity by improving productivity and economic competitiveness and for this reason the participants’ cooperation and links between each other is essential to acquire and diffuse knowledge for the knowledge-based economies. Universities role in the socio-economic development is important as they improve and diffuse scholarly knowledge.