In this book, Community-based Entrepreneurship and Rural Development, the authors Matthias Fink, Stephan Loidl and Richard Lang ask the question “How can municipalities create favourable conditions for local small businesses?” They take a particular interest in rural municipalities located in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Austria, and focus their attention on the requirements of the cross-border transfer of know-how between these regions. The book is important as the creation of a favourable environment for small businesses in rural regions is a key issue in creating jobs and increasing quality of life. In this respect, small businesses located in border regions could be regarded as particularly interesting as they have access to markets on both sides of the border, are influenced by both cultures, and can adapt ideas (information and knowledge) from both countries. As a result, they could become rather dynamic – if they are given favourable conditions. The book follows a long tradition of research interest in the regional aspects of small business development. We can go as far back as the early twentieth century and the writings of Alfred Marshall to find the first major contribution on this topic. However, Marshall’s influence was rather limited, as most of the twentieth century was dominated by a belief in large-scale systems and internal economies of scale. It was not until the 1970s that the interest in the regional side of small business re-emerged. This time, the research was led by two Italian economists, Giacomo Becattini and Sebastiano Brusco, who “re-discovered” the industrial districts in the Italian economy. International recognition grew considerably as a result of Michael Porter’s book The Competitive Advantage of Nations, published in 1990, and his introduction of the “cluster” concept that became accepted in the field. The cluster concept had a major influence, not only on researchers but also among policy makers, especially with regards to technology-oriented regions and clusters. Since these early contributions on the regional aspects of small business, the body of research has grown significantly and become more heterogeneous in character. For example, extensive interest has been shown in regional differences in business formation and the development of small businesses, but there is also interest in regional innovation systems. In this respect, the research has been heavily policy-oriented, with much discussion of how favourable conditions can be created for local and regional businesses.