West Virginia is one of the nations most rural states with high unemployment, deeply rooted poverty, low human capital formation, high out-migration, and a shrinking economic base. West Virginia has devoted efforts through national and local policy programs to induce economic prosperity, curtail out-migration of college graduates, and mitigate poverty. This book provides an in-depth analysis of the linkage between small business/entrepreneurship and rural economic growth, which is measured by employment opportunities and gross county product growth. Three separate cluster of counties of West...

Increasing uncertainty in the world economy has created challenges for regions to pursue development strategies. Globalization and the advent of new technologies led to approaches from traditional industrial recruiting to less traditional approaches. Among these latter approaches is the increased importance of entrepreneurship for creating economic growth through self-employment or new firm formation. The analysis integrates regional growth theory and spatial econometric modeling to develop recommendations for entrepreneurial development strategies. A unique aspect of this book is that it...