Abstract:
Theories of economic growth have long recognized that the majority of growth results
from endogenous changes in technology that emerge from the profit motivated
development of new knowledge. However, recent theorizing has suggested that the
creation of knowledge in and of itself does not directly or immediately translate into
changes in technological productivity as it must first be actively converted from concept
into means of production. These developments have lead to spatially interdependent
models of economic growth that are based not only on the development of knowledge but
also on the commercialization and diffusion of it. This dissertation seeks to empirically
examine some of the key propositions of these new theoretical models. Specifically, the
relationship between productivity and entrepreneurship will be scrutinized with respect to
the technological frontier. As well, the concept of regional psychological capital will be
probed as an explanation for the proclivity of entrepreneurial activity in certain regions.
