The first High Technology Small Firms Conference was held at Manchester Business School in July 1993. In order to gain a wider audience for the work presented at this annual conference, a series of edited books was initiated and the first volume entitled New Technology-Based Firms in the 1990s was published in 1994. As a continuation of this series, the chapters included in Volume Two comprise the best papers to be presented at the second High Technology Small Firms Conference, again held at Manchester Business School in September 1994. Together with collections of edited papers to follow in future years, the two existing volumes represent a record of an evolving research agenda on high-technology small firms, survival and growth.

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
High-Technology Small Firms - R P Oakey
The Evolving Agenda
PART TWO: FINANCE
Sources of Equity Capital for Small Growing Firms - C Mason, K McNally and R Harrison
Accosts `Enterprise Challenge¿ Revisited
Risk, Insurance and High-Technology Small Firms - D Deakins and P Bentley
PART THREE: THE MEASUREMENT AND EXPLANATION OF HTSF GROWTH
Potential for Growth - A Lumme
Employment Creation Effects of the Most Promising Technology-Based Entrepreneurial Companies in Finland
The Financial Performance of Innovative Small Firms in the UK - P Wynarczyk and A Thwaites
Small Firms and New Technologies - W Bartlett and R Rangelova
The Case of Bulgaria
PART FOUR: THE ROLE OF SCIENCE PARKS AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS IN HTSF GROWTH
Technology Interweavement - H G Gem nden and P Heydebreck
A Key Success Factor for New Technology-Based Firms
The Sustainable Academic Spin-off Enterprise - J Lowe and P Taylor
From Handicap to Nice Little Earner - K A Harvey
A Study of Academic Entrepreneurs in the UK
PART FIVE: INNOVATION MANAGEMENT
New Technology-Based Firms in Paradigmatic and Industry-Specific Technological Systems - E Autio and N Geust
Innovative Interaction - E Garnsey and H Alford
Supplier Relations among NTBFs
What Makes the Local Environment Important for High Tech Small Firms? - M Van Geenhuizen and P Nijkamp
PART SIX: POLICY
The Impact of Formal Co-Operation on the Development of Small Manufacturing and Technology-Based Firms in Norway - D J Bower and B Skisaker
Technology-Based Entrepreneurship in Flanders (Belgium) - J P Segers
New Zealand Government Policy towards High-Technology Small Firms - G Stockport and A Kakabadse
UK Government Support for Information Technology Development in Small Firms - H M Cameron, L G Georghiou, and T J Buisseret