A country’s human capital has been neglected as a potential determinant of inwards foreign direct investment (FDI), both in theory and empirical research. When human capital has been included in models of the determinants of FDI, it appears simply as a control variable or one of the variables in a “kitchen sink” approach, usually without any theoretical rationale for its inclusion or critical discussion of the measures used. The mis-specification that may result from this is advanced as one of the potential explanations for the very diverse findings in previous literature and the failure of the meta-regression analysis (MRA) reported in this thesis to find an ‘authentic’ effect of human capital on inwards FDI. Accordingly, this research seeks to fill this gap, by identifying the mechanisms through which human capital is expected to attract FDI to European transition economies and drawing conclusions about the most appropriate measures of human capital given the characteristics of the former communist (education) system. The ‘productivity-enhancing’ skills and traits that (foreign) investors are likely to value in such economies are identified and the manner in which these skills are developed is analysed. In the light of this analysis the conventional human capital measures used in empirical analyses are critically assessed. These contributions are used to develop an empirical model for estimating the effect of human capital on inwards FDI at country-, sector- and industry-level in 12 European transition economies during the period 1995-2008. Consistent with the results of previous studies, as suggested by the MRA, no significant effect of traditional volume measures of human capital on FDI inflows/stocks is found. However, some evidence is presented in this thesis indicating that the quality dimension of human capital as measured by cognitive skills proxies may affect inwards FDI in the manufacturing sector. Accordingly, several potential explanations for the findings and some of their implications for future macro-level research focusing on the effects of human capital are explored.

The case for this PhD by published work is based on reflection on eight years’ reflective practice research into the role of design in entrepreneurial leadership. Specifically, it explores a strategic design approach to socio – economic innovation. It is the culmination of a thirty-year longitudinal study at the interface of leadership, enterprise, innovation and development within the particular challenging environment of the Northern Ireland conflict. One important lesson from the author’s experience of societal crisis has been the pivotal role of innovation in socio - economic regeneration. External environmental pressures are forcing organisations to develop new approaches to cope with uncertainty. These circumstances call for leaders who can innovate whilst navigating complexity. Against this context the research considers entrepreneurial leadership and understands this to be more than the sum of entrepreneurship and leadership but a new phenomenon leveraged in response to the current climate. The focus is on entrepreneurial leadership, strategic design and open innovation as transformational drivers for socio-economic value creation. The study involves a design-led approach that maps transformational drivers against triple helix challenges, to provide a new perspective on the generative role of design. It synthesises organising frameworks that further highlight how entrepreneurial leaders build relationships for developmental innovation. These model the interplay between transfiguring and threshold concepts to yield guiding principles for entrepreneurial leadership practice. They represent antecedent factors for a prospective theory of Design Dynamics. The distinct contribution is an original contextual framework that provides insight into how entrepreneurial leaders employ design to realise innovation. Further, this builds on the extant body of knowledge through the hypothesis of a potential Design Dynamics theory as a support structure to explain and guide entrepreneurial leadership within complex environments. Future research will explore the nature of this structure so that it is applicable to new entrepreneurial contexts.

Immigrant entrepreneurship is an important feature of the economy. With the growing numbers of visible ethnic minority communities, their presence in the labour market is of increasing importance in contemporary society. The Chinese are an under- researched group as documented by various authors and publications (Parker, 1994; Pang and Lau, 1998). The dissertation aims to address this failing. The Chinese are often associated with heavy concentration in the catering trade, in the form of restaurants and takeaways. The reason for this continued dominance is an interesting issue to explore. This thesis investigates the Chinese in Newcastle upon Tyne and their experiences, mainly within the catering trade, which offers both employment and self-employment opportunities. As will be revealed, this form of labour market participation can lead to social exclusion but at the same time, the creation of a stronger community. One possible element in the decision to enter self-employment is the existence of racial discrimination in the labour market. However, occupational choice is a more complex issue than simply an outcome of discrimination. The two principal research questions that guide this study are: 'Is self-employment a choice or a necessity?' and 'Does discrimination play a role in occupational choice?' An original and unique framework for analysis has been adopted based on prior knowledge held by the researcher by living the experiences as a member of the Chinese ethnic group. This stock of knowledge or indeed 'social capital' formed the basis for ideas and questions used in each of the three stages of research: self- completion questionnaires, semi-structured follow-up interviews and a focus group session. The implementation of these stages has been conducted in order to gain an understanding of the issues surrounding the two main research questions and to provide an insight into the experiences of the Chinese. However, due to the nature of voluntary responses in the chosen methodology, the research does not aim to generalise the Chinese community, as it remains a small-scale qualitative study.