I am writing to draw your attention to our recently launched call for papers for a Special Issue in the International Small Business Journal on "Business Support for Entrepreneurs and Small Firms: Access, Design and Impact".
The SI aims to advance understanding of the accessibility, design and effectiveness of different types of business support. An indicative list of questions that could be explored may include:
Accessibility: Who accesses different forms of business support and who does not? For what reasons and with what implications for business support effectiveness? How does accessibility vary across the types of business support and actors involved in its provision? How can the accessibility of business support be improved?
Design: What business support is available and what forms does it take across a variety of contexts? How has business support developed over time, and with what implications for support provision today? How can governments and other actors design more inclusive, accessible and effective forms of business support? What factors inhibit the implementation of effective business support?
Effectiveness: How effective are different forms of business support for supporting smaller firms' growth, performance, behaviour, survival, innovation and other outcomes? Under what conditions are different forms of business support effective? How do the impacts vary when smaller firms receive multiple forms of business support simultaneously? How do the impacts vary across the different actors involved in the provision of different forms of business support?
The deadline for submissions is 27th June 2025.
Guest Editors:
Gary Chapman, University of Nottingham
Robert Wapshott, University of Nottingham
Annalisa Caloffi, University of Florence
Hanna Hottenrott, Technical University of Munich & ZEW
Oliver Mallett, University of Stirling
The full call for papers and submission details can be accessed here: https://journals.sagepub.com/page/isb/call-for-papers/index
Questions and informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Robert Wapshott (robert.wapshott@nottingham.ac.uk), or any of the other guest editors.
Best Wishes,
Gary
------------------------------
Gary Chapman
Assistant Professor
Belfast
------------------------------