The chapters in this volume analyze the interplay between knowledge, public policy, and entrepreneurship in both theory and practice. In particular, they examine how policymakers often struggle with limited economic knowledge, which hinders their ability to intervene in the market process to achieve their desired ends.

Understanding entrepreneurship as alertness to potential profit opportunities and the activities involved with bringing those opportunities to life and public policy as laws, regulations, and activities of government, this volume analyzes the intersection of the two to show how public policy influences entrepreneurship. Using a mix of theoretical and applied research, the contributors argue that policies which incentivize productive entrepreneurship will advance economic well-being, but that the passage of such policies depends in large part on the availability and usage of economic knowledge by policymakers. If policymakers lack the relevant economic knowledge to achieve their desired outcomes, policies will be ineffective in incentivizing productive entrepreneurship.