Disabled people as entrepreneurs and innovators: framing the policy landscape

Abstract

There is an increasing recognition worldwide that disabled people make significant contributions to their national economies and to society – as productive employees, as self-employed workers and as entrepreneurs in various sectors. 1 Moreover, not as often recognised is that diversity is itself, in a broader sense, a driver of innovation, and that disabled people, recognised as a significant characterisation and indicator of demographic diversity, also as such, are strong contributors to the innovation economy and to society in general. 2 It is particularly in reference to this point that their participation in entrepreneurship and related activities has come to occupy an increasingly prominent position in the policy agenda. Accordingly, the work presented here explores and advances this issue as a critical area for policy research and analysis. In so doing, we provide a broad perspective on entrepreneurship created by disabled people, delineating key concepts and theoretical issues as a general framework for understanding and comparing various aspects of the topic in different countries and contexts.