The editors of this three-volume set are pleased to present readers with insight into the field of entrepreneurship by some of the leading scholars around the world. Babson College, the home institution for all the editors, has been a leader in entrepreneurship education for over thirty years and is recognized by many leading publications as the top school for teaching entrepreneurship at both the MBA and undergraduate levels (thirteen years running by U.S. News and World Report). Since 1999, Babson College, in conjunction with the London Business School, has led the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research project. GEM assesses the state of entrepreneurship activity across more than forty countries around the world (comprising two-thirds of the world’s population and over 90 percent of the world GDP), and has shown that entrepreneurship can be found in all economies and that almost 9 percent of the adult population is actively attempting to launch a new venture at any given time. While the percentages vary by country, GEM illustrates the importance of entrepreneurship and provides context as we try to better understand the entrepreneurial phenomenon.
