Penrose’s Growth Theory: The Endogenous Mechanism of Innovation-driven Entrepreneurship
摘要
In the era of the digital economy, emerging innovation-driven entrepreneurship activities are constantly impacted by new technologies, new business forms, and new models. Firms of all types are expected to innovate and continue to grow. Penrose’s growth theory (Penrose, 1959) is an important theory that explores the factors, patterns, and process mechanisms of firm growth from an endogenous perspective and has served as the origin and foundation for many theories in the strategic management field. However, the widespread adoption of digital technologies such as big data, cloud computing, platforms, and artificial intelligence across industries continues to drive technological change. This has increased the complexity and uncertainty of firms’ growth environments (Nambisan, 2017), while changing the characteristics of resources and opportunities within a firm. Thus, Penrose’s growth theory faces many challenges in explaining the innovation-driven entrepreneurship process. This chapter reviews Penrose’s growth theory and its application in the entrepreneurship field. It also explores the characteristics of innovation-driven entrepreneurship and the endogenous mechanisms of innovation-driven entrepreneurship in the context of today’s environment; this, in turn, enriches and develops firm growth theory.