With economic growth sluggish in the developed world, does entrepreneurship still hold the key to economist Adam Smith’s much-vaunted “wealth of nations”?

“If you define entrepreneurial organisations as private organisations, then yes, of course, entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of any major economy,” says Ramakrishna Velamuri, professor of entrepreneurship at China Europe International Business School in Beijing.

“If you narrow the definition down to start-up companies, then – while important – they don’t necessarily represent the lifeblood. They are by definition young; they don’t have very high revenues.”