The authors treat us to the scope and international flavours of entrepreneurship and institutions. They deploy the idea of institutions to show us how different contexts shape entrepreneurial processes and outcomes. Particularly interesting is their concept of institutional asymmetry, where formal and informal institution are poorly aligned. The interplay between formal, informal institutions and entrepreneurship is extremely useful.

Alistair R Anderson, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen

An empirically examined discussion on entrepreneurial institutions worldwide...If you want to know the nuances and the ‘greys’ of entrepreneurial institutions, especially, informality and asymmetry...Read this book - and learn from one of the best in the field.

Anjula Gurtoo, Associate Professor, Management Studies, Indian Institute of Science, India

Williams, Vorley, and Williams do a masterful job of exploring the asymmetry of formal and informal institutions in twelve national economies, making the book a must read for scholars of comparative international entrepreneurship. The book covers a rich variety of provocative issues, from entrepreneurship in a great recession to the promotion of social enterprise to the effectiveness of new policies such as start-up visas. In addition to the deep analyses of hand-collected data from an impressive assembly of entrepreneurs and their respective contexts, readers will appreciate the anchoring to the current research literature as well as the historical overview.

Siri Terjesen, Associate Professor, Department of Management, American University, Washington, D.C

I highly recommend Entrepreneurship and Institutions, which through rich case studies demonstrates the critical importance of the informal institutions and the alignment between them and the formal ones in promoting entrepreneurship. In today’s world where entrepreneurship is widely acknowledged as an engine of the economic growth, this book bears significant implications for theory development, policy making and practice.

Can Huang, Professor, Head of Department of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy and Co-Director of Institute for Intellectual Property Management at School of Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

Institutions such as regulations, laws, norms matter for entrepreneurship; and the authors provide an excellent analysis how institutional asymmetries shape the nature and extent of entrepreneurial activity. This book is a must-read for all of us interested in entrepreneurship and institutions, not least because of its theoretical ideas, but also because of the unique country studies from around the world.

Friederike Welter, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn and University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany