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 "."
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
Brown, R., 28 Jul 2025, The Conversation.
Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Article
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Open access
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
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
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
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
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
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
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Open access
Brown, R. C., Rocha, A., Sun, H. & Cowling, M., 5 Apr 2025, In: Small Business Economics. Online, 15 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Brown, R., Cowling, M., Liu, W., Song, X. & Sun, H., 9 Oct 2025, In: Journal of Small Business Management. Latest Articles
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Cowling, M. & Brown, R. C., 1 Oct 2024, In: Papers in Regional Science. 103, 5, 11 p., 100045.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review