Prof Ross Brown
Professor
Biography
My main thematic areas of research are entrepreneurship, innovation and public policy. My career has included periods in industry, consultancy and over a decade in public policy. I have extensive experience of project managing and undertaking research for a range of research funders and clients. During this time I have undertaken and managed a number of major research projects for the Economic and Social Research Council, the Scottish Government, the Anglo-German Foundation, the OECD and the Institute for Chartered Accountants Scotland, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy. I have also undertaken research and acted as an expert adviser to the European Commission, Northern Ireland government, Scottish Enterprise, Action Canada and the LEED programme within the OECD. This has resulted in widely cited OECD publications such as "Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Growth-Oriented Entrepreneurship."
Teaching
- MN5423 Global Business Strategy
- MN5425 Masterclasses in International Business
Research areas
My current research examines high growth entrepreneurship, funding for growth-oriented SMEs, innovation policy, start-ups and public policy. This has resulted in an extensive range of publications in top journals including:
- Journal of Economic Geography
- Small Business Economics
- Cambridge Journal of Regions
- Economy & Society
- Regional Studies
- Environment and Planning C: Government & Policy
- British Journal of Industrial Relations
- International Small Business Journal
- Industrial Marketing Management
- Journal of Technology Transfer
- Research Policy.
Selected publications
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Open access
Institutions, political voting behaviour and start-ups: evidence from 651 electoral constituencies
Cowling, M. & Brown, R., 26 Jun 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Small Business Economics. Accepted/in press, p. 1-21Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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The promise of entrepreneurial ecosystems for sustainability transitions
Fischer, B., Stam, E., Roundy, P. T., Demirel, P., Moraes, G. H. S. M. D. & Brown, R., 7 Jun 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Industry and Innovation. Latest Articles, p. 1-10Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
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Analysing diversity in entrepreneurial finance across entrepreneurial ecosystems
Brown, R. & Rocha, A., 22 Jul 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) The Oxford handbook of spatial diversity and business economics. Andersson, M., Karlsson, C. & Wixe, S. (eds.). Oxford University Press, p. 229-248 20 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Open access
BrewDog’s ‘Equity for Punks’ fuelled its rapid rise – but may have contributed to its struggles
Brown, R., 28 Jul 2025, The Conversation.Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
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Open access
Getting money in the country: is there a liability of rurality facing SMEs?
Cowling, M., Brown, R., Liu, W. & Yang, H., 6 Sept 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Rural Studies. 120, 103886.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Growth, working capital and refinancing: the geography of post-pandemic regional financial resilience in UK SMEs
Cowling, M., Brown, R. C., Liu, W. & Yang, H., 5 Jun 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Papers in Regional Science. 104, 4, 100101.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Looking inside the ‘black box’ of digital firm scaling: an ethnographically informed conceptualisation
Brown, R. C., Mawson, S., Rocha, A. & Rowe, A., 1 Jan 2025, In: Journal of Business Research. 186, 13 p., 114987.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Spatial myopia, financial hubs and the 'golden triangle': tracing the uneven landscape of international equity investments in the UK
Brown, R., Rocha, A., Sun, H. & Cowling, M., 15 Dec 2025, In: British Journal of Management. Early View, e70034.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Stepping out of the shadow? The nature and durability of new firm formation in former coalfield communities
Cowling, M., Brown, R., Ioannou, S. & Blackburn, R., 8 Dec 2025, In: Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. Latest Articles, p. 1-23 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Traversing the multiple nested geographies of NUTs based entrepreneurial ecosystems
Cowling, M., Brown, R. C. & Yang, H., 25 Apr 2025, In: Journal of Technology Transfer. 27 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review