"In this paper, we carry out a literature review of the studies investigating the factors that affect the performance and growth of clean technology start-up firms. The importance of clean-tech start-ups lies in their mission to protect the environment by facilitating the increased use of clean energy and environmentally friendly solutions. At the same time, the entrepreneurial nature of many of these firms enables introduction of radical innovations necessary for making breakthroughs in the industries of renewable energy and environmental technology that in turn are essential for the industry development. Given their significance, there are surprisingly few studies with the focus on the factors affecting the growth of clean-tech start-ups. Our search in leading management, entrepreneurship and energy journals has yielded a total of 13 articles, almost all of which focus on such external factors as policies. We argue that this gives us an incomplete picture of the factors enabling a clean-tech firm's development. As clean-tech firms are a subset of the population of new technology-based firms (NTBFs), we draw on the literature dealing with the factors that promote growth of NTBFs in order to build our framework for structuring the results. The analysis uncovers what future research areas can be pursued in order to gain a more balanced understanding of what enables the development of a clean-tech start-up. We suggest that in addition to the macro-studies of policies and regulations, future research needs to examine the individual and firm-specific factors, e.g. characteristics of the clean-tech entrepreneurs, teams, governance mechanisms and network structures. Furthermore, the existing focus on the environmental and innovative performance of clean-tech start-ups should be complemented by examining the alternative firm outcomes related to e.g. financial performance, social identity, alliance portfolio and internationalization."

"Entrepreneurs are key drivers of economic and social progress. Rapidly growing entrepreneurial enterprises are often viewed as important sources of innovation, productivity growth and employment (small and medium-sized enterprises account for a high percentage of all jobs in emerging economies). Many governments are therefore trying to actively promote entrepreneurship through various forms of support.

The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Stanford University, Ernst & Young and Endeavor, surveyed over 1,000 entrepreneurs from around the globe with the goal of better understanding how successful entrepreneurial companies speed access to new markets and become scalable, high-growth businesses. Executive case studies for 43 early-stage companies from 23 different countries were developed to enrich the feedback from the survey."

"This paper provides a synthetic and systematic review on the effectiveness of various entrepreneurship programs in developing countries It adopts a meta-regression analysis using 37 impact evaluation studies that were in the public domain by March 2012, and draws out several lessons on the design of the programs The paper observes wide variation in program effectiveness across different interventions depending on outcomes, types of beneficiaries, and country context Over, entrepreneurship programs have a positive and large impact for youth and on business knowledge and practice, but no immediate translation into business set-up and expansion or increased income At a disaggregate level by outcome groups, providing a package of training and financing is more effective for labor activities. In addition, financing support appears more effective for women and business training for existing entrepreneurs than other interventions to improve business performance."

"The present "Effectiveness of Entrepreneurship Development interventions on Women Entrepreneurs" issue brief is the result of an in-depth review of six meta-evaluations and twenty three rigorous impact satudies undertaken during the past 10 years in women's entrepreneurship development initiatives around the world. It provides a synthesis of impact findings and identifies interventions which seem to have worked more effectively.

The brief corroborates for example that combining finance and business training -although more costly - seems to be more effective in supporting women's business start-up than either finance or business training alone. Also, training packages that combine business and gender knowledge are more likely to lead to women's empowerment. While more evidence is still needed, the brief concludes with a series of recommendations for future interventions and impact evaluations including providing more than access to skills and finance, by also addressing gender-based barriers and women's strategic needs, in order to ensure the business success and consolidation of women entrepreneurs."

"This report focuses on social enterprise within the context of Peru; it provides case studies of successful businesses, profiles of entrepreneurs, and highlights the connection between social entrepreneurship and development. It ends with a series of policy suggestions to promote and help these types of enterprises through the public sector.

Este reporte desarrolla el concepto de empresa social en el contexto de Perú, dando a conocer casos de éxito, perfiles de emprendedores, la relación entre el emprendimiento social y el desarrollo y una serie de lineamientos para promover y apoyar este tipo de emprendimiento vía el sector público."

"This primer is for philanthropists and social investors who want to learn more about the role of philanthropic capital in strengthening and growing enterprises. It serves as a "how-to" guide to social enterprise philanthropy by providing an overview of this sector and information about how philanthropists can most effectively work within it to achieve high social impact."

"This legal guide provides an overview of legal issues and requirements for impact investors and social entrepreneurs who are entering into business in East Africa. Without a better understanding of the regional context, the legal process can often be poorly suited for specific markets and take months and incur substantial expenses for investors and businesses. Understanding the local legal environment streamlines the due diligence process and improves the ongoing viability, sustainability, and growth potential of investments."

"With the trend to conduct rigorous impact evaluations of development interventions, many researchers have started to look more closely at programmes and policies that either directly intend to create jobs or that generate jobs indirectly. This note summarises the main lessons that can be drawn from these studies. It is based on a comprehensive systematic review commissioned by the evaluation unit of KfW Development Bank (Grimm and Paffhausen, 2014). The review revealed several factors and design features likely to make job creation interventions successful. However, these findings have to be taken with care because evidence is still scarce. First and foremost, the review underlines how little we actually know about how to create jobs. This stands in sharp contrast to the high number of programmes and projects that claim to know -- and on which considerable funds are being spent."

"This report analyzes the entrepreneurial journey of women in Mexico. It was undertaken in order to identify opportunities for creating an enabling environment for women through increased access to finance, skill development and public resources; unleashing their potential to contribute towards economic growth.

The study draws on the experiences of 126 women entrepreneurs and data collected from them through focus groups and surveys. It also draws on the expertise of a group of actors referred to as the “ecosystem” for supporting WSGBs in Mexico. This “ecosystem” includes: public policy entities and academia, financial institutions, capacity development organizations and networks, and nongovernmental organizations and foundations, as well as the private sector. These actors are “mapped” in order to visualize which organizations in Mexico are supporting WSGBs, as well as those that take a collaborative approach to include more women in the sector."

"A professor at Brazil’s prestigious Federal University of Viçosa saw a need on campus for an incubator to support technologically-oriented businesses, including agribusinesses. This resulted in the CENTEV Technology Incubator, which is partially funded by the university but which also receives state and private grants. Its function is to nurture entrepreneurs to develop viable technology based businesses by providing them with management assistance and augmenting their technical capabilities with expert academic advice. The incubator’s 24 graduates are still in business, with average revenues of $2.5 million a year."