Robert Huggins

Piers Thompson

Studies have generally found that economic factors are able to explain changes in entrepreneurial activity over time, but are less effective at explaining the persistent differences in entrepreneurial activity between places, such as cities. Other scholarly research suggests relationships between the culture and institutions evident in particular places and the level of entrepreneurship found in these places, resulting in path dependent development. This may have implications for cities, and particular neighborhoods within cities, which have long sought to use entrepreneurship as a method for alleviating deprivation and poverty. This study develops an evolutionary theory of entrepreneurial urban development entwining the entrepreneurial, institutional and cultural factors underpinning such development. Drawing on an analysis of urban local authority areas in England, it is argued that an evolutionary theory helps to not only explain those factors favoring entrepreneurship, but also to understand those elements that constrain and limit entrepreneurship. In less successful urban areas, ineffective formal institutions are coupled with a cultural environment unsuited to the formation of the level entrepreneurship capital found in their more successful counterparts. The theoretical model presented in this paper suggests that whilst entrepreneurship has often been picked out as a possible solution for urban areas with higher levels of deprivation, policy interventions are likely to result in only limited success unless systemic cultural and institutional changes are forthcoming.

Ying Wang

Nicholas Sun-Keung PANG

The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between principal leadership and teachers' professional development, and explore measures that can be taken by principals to facilitate teachers' professional development. This study draws on evidence from the context of mainland China. Data are from a survey of 44 principals who attended a leadership training program and an in-depth interview with three school leaders in one primary school. A framework for principals' roles in leading teachers' professional development is presented. There have been six subscales in the theoretical framework and these include sharing vision, building trust, promoting collaboration, securing resources, motivating professional learning, and monitoring effectiveness. Through a mixed method, we found that principals perceived their roles as facilitators in teachers' professional development. Building trust and ensuring resources are the most important strategies in enhancing teachers' professional development and these were the most frequently used strategies reported by the principals. By comparing the degrees of expected importance and reported practice, we suggest that principals in mainland China should enhance their leadership in sharing vision and motivating professional learning when leading teachers' professional development.

UI Research Center

CALL FOR PAPERS/PROPOSALS
The 3rd Untested Ideas International Research E-Conference
Identifying Untested Practices
June 26 – 28, 2015

UI Research Center

CALL FOR BOOK EDITORS
The 3rd Untested Ideas International Research E-Conference
Identifying Untested Practices
June 26 – 28, 2015