The award is presented every year to the author or co-authors of the best overall paper presented during the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Annual Conference. This year's event was held in San Diego earlier this month.

The two LUMS academics' award was for a paper they authored, together with Eric Monsen (University of Vermont), Stephan Heblich (University of Bristol) and David Audretsch (Indiana University), entitled "Generative Capacity: A Key Catalyzing Resource for Entrepreneurial Activity and Breakthrough Innovation."