Towards an Interdisciplinary Theory of Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is one of the least understood topics in economics. The rising significance of small companies and especially of start-ups for the creation of new jobs has been an intensively discussed subject for nearly one decade. But there is still no theory of entrepreneurship.First this paper reviews the role of the entrepreneur in the history of economic thought and concludes that there is no agreed upon definition of what an entrepreneur does or is. The unsolved problem is the non-rational human behavior. Schumpeter and Kirzner have developed economic models of the role of the non-maximizing entrepreneur in the price-mechanism. But they did not develop a theory of entrepreneurship.In the second part of the paper entrepreneurship is understood as the pursuit of opportunites without regard to resources currently controlled (Stevenson, Roberts, and Grousbeck). Based on that definition the contributions of economic decision theory, sociological system theory, psychoanalytical research and behavioral studies are reviewed and an interdisciplinary approach to the development of an entrepreneurship theory is proposed.     

High‐Growth Women’s Entrepreneurship: Fueling Social and Economic Development

High‐growth firms, often referred to as “gazelles,” are equated with entrepreneurial success and celebrated as the key to growing economies, and women’s entrepreneurship is a vehicle of economic and social development. This special issue publishes papers that address the general lack of research on high‐growth women’s entrepreneurship. In this introduction paper, we offer an adapted framework for the factors driving high growth across multiple levels: individual (entrepreneur and entrepreneurial team characteristics), venture (strategy, organizational structures, and systems), resources, location, and environment. We also introduce the papers in this special issue and present an overview of the contributions to this issue.     

Recent developments in the economics of entrepreneurship

This paper serves as an introduction to the special issue of JBV on the economics of entrepreneurship. Since the beginning of the 18th century, economics has recognized the importance of entrepreneurship at both the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels. This paper reviews recent developments in the economics of entrepreneurship, discusses the principles behind the emergence of a new heterodoxy in economics, and how these new principles provide fertile grounds to further our understanding of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial behavior. Finally, the paper reviews the contributions included in this special issue and puts them in the context of recent developments in entrepreneurship research.     

Israel M. Kirzner: An Outstanding Austrian Contributor to the Economics of Entrepreneurship

Israel M. Kirzner is the 2006 winner of The International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research. In this essay, we present and evaluate his main contributions to the economics of entrepreneurship. The focus is on how Kirzner defines the entrepreneurial function. In order to better understand his theory, we posit Kirzner’s notion of an entrepreneur in the Austrian tradition. In so doing we emphasize that this concept opens up different perspectives as compared to the neoclassical theoretical framework. The three areas of economic policy, justice and freedom, and economic growth are discussed. We also show why the Kirznerian entrepreneur makes these issues relevant. Perhaps most importantly, Kirzner has made the Austrian School intelligible for non-Austrians. By bridging the chasm between Austrian and mainstream thinking, the crucial role of entrepreneurship and the individual entrepreneur has become visible to a much broader audience.     

Gender factors and female entrepreneurship: International evidence and policy implications

Nowadays, the transformations taking place in female entrepreneurship at the national and international levels and the importance of such entrepreneurship for economic growth and poverty alleviation underscore the need for more global and diversified analysis of female entrepreneurial activities. The literature however regarding international comparisons of female entrepreneurship practices remains limited and becomes even more limited when exploring such practices beyond the developed countries context. To this end, this paper examined the impact of five gender-related variables on the extent of female entrepreneurial activities in 44 developed and developing countries. Among its five focused variables, the paper found female education, extent of female economic activities, female earnings ratio, and fertility rate to be significant in all estimations with two different dependent variables representing female entrepreneurial activities. The remaining focus variable related to gender empowerment was found to be significant with one of the two dependent variables. Among its contributions, the paper explored gender entrepreneurship from an international perspective and extended the analysis of the topic beyond the main stream Anglo-Saxon context. It also highlighted the variations in results with regards to developed and developing countries environment. Understanding factors that could influence the development of female entrepreneurial activities and exploring their potential variability across stages of economic development could also be useful for policy makers exploring effective incentive structure to promote gender entrepreneurship in their respective countries.     

The Economics of Entrepreneurship Policy: Introduction to the Special Issue

This paper introduces the special issue on the economics of entrepreneurship policy. It is argued that important differences in the perspective on and approach to entrepreneurship policy that are found in the literature are rooted in different conceptions. The Schumpeterian conception of entrepreneurship that provides a focus on innovation and firm growth is the most useful definition for entrepreneurship policy in developed countries. In addition focused summaries of the contributions are presented. The paper concludes by emphasizing the main contributions of economics to the study of entrepreneurship policy.     

In search of the meaning of entrepreneurship

This paper is an attempt to build a bridge between the popular and the academic usage of the terms entrepreneur and entrepreneurship, and to identify the raw materials needed to construct an interpretive framework capable of illuminating the nature of entrepreneurship and its role in economic theory. We review briefly the contributions made to this topic by Cantillon, Schumpeter, Schultz and Kirzner. We advance a synthetic definition of the entrepreneur as someone who specializes in taking responsibility for and making judgemental decisions that affect the location, the form, and the use of goods, resources, or institutions. We then conclude with some observations on the basic choice confronting economics regarding the place of entrepreneurship in economic analysis.     

Entrepreneurship as a solution to poverty in developed economies

While entrepreneurship in developing economies at the base of the pyramid is receiving growing attention, scholars have devoted less effort to exploring entrepreneurship as a solution to poverty in advanced economies. Yet, poverty rates have not meaningfully changed in most developed economies in 50 years, and the income gap between rich and poor continues to widen. In this article, we examine entrepreneurship as a source of empowerment for the economically disadvantaged. We explore the nature of poverty and its implications for various aspects of entrepreneurship, identify problematic aspects of the typical low-income startup, and present the SPODER conceptual framework for fostering entrepreneurial development among the poor: (S) supportive infrastructure, (P) preparation of the entrepreneur; (O) expanded opportunity horizons; (D) finding sources of differentiation; (E) a well-designed economic model; and (R) leveraging community resources. We conclude by drawing from the framework implications for those involved in breaking the cycle of poverty.     

Entrepreneurship, Economic Growth and Public Policy

This paper is an introduction to the second Global Entrepreneurship Research Conference. The conference focused on developing a better understanding of the relationships among entrepreneurship, economic growth and public policy, and variations according to the stage of economic development. The papers in this special issue conduct analysis with GEM micro-and-macro data, and offer several important policy recommendations. First, middle-income countries should focus on increasing human capital, upgrading technology availability and promoting enterprise development. It is important to start enterprise development policies early because the main drivers are perceptual variables that are difficult to change in the short run. Second, for developed economies, reducing entry regulations, in most cases, will not result in more high-potential startups. Both labor market reform and deregulation of financial markets may be needed to support growth of high-performance ventures.      

Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets: New Insights and Directions for Future Research

In recent years, the entrepreneurship and emerging markets research streams have intersected. Emerging markets provide an opportunity to examine entrepreneurship in different contexts and forms. This article discusses the current literature that interconnects both research streams in general, comments on the contributions of the articles published in the special issue on entrepreneurship and emerging markets in particular, and sketches out future avenues for research. These contributions span several theoretical lenses, including institutional theory, internationalization theory, transaction cost economics, and the resource‐based view, as well as multiple geographic regions, including China as the largest emerging economy and other countries in East Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. We weave a discussion of the extant literature and these contributions inside three key themes: Emerging Markets and China's Uniqueness, Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets, and Future Research on Emerging Markets Entrepreneurship. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Why is export-oriented entrepreneurship more prevalent in some countries than others? Contextual antecedents and economic consequences

Drawing on institutional economics, this article investigates how different contexts condition the prevalence of export-oriented entrepreneurship, which affects economic growth. We place emphasis on the differences between developed and developing countries through interaction effects that allow us to test for differential validity. Using simultaneous equation panel data models for a sample of 43 countries (2004–2012), we find that access to credit and access to communications are the most significant factors in explaining the export-oriented entrepreneurship required for economic growth. Policy implications for both developed and developing countries are suggested to enhance economic performance under specific context characteristics through export-oriented entrepreneurship.     

Introduction to special issue of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Small Business Economics</Emphasis> on female entrepreneurship in developed and developing economies

Research into entrepreneurship has for many years been interested in the differences in rate of participation and performance by female entrepreneurs. The motivation for considering female entrepreneurship in both developing and developed countries arises from our increasing understanding of the significance of the role of women in creating, running and growing businesses as a fundamental driver for economic growth. This special issue examines the reasons for differences in gender participation across levels of development using empirical studies.     

Credit accessibility and corporate social responsibility in financial institutions: the case of microfinance

What are financial institutions' social responsibilities in developing countries? On the one hand, these institutions share the generic responsibilities of all human organizations and business enterprises. However, their specific social responsibility is the performance of the social function of financial intermediaries, which, in the case of emerging countries, consists mainly of contributing to economic growth and solving the problem of poverty. This paper describes a number of technical‐economic and moral problems that take us to a consideration of the performance of banking operations in microfinancing, with special reference to Latin America. The paper also provides a series of recommendations that, in addition to contributing to solving the development and poverty problems in emerging countries, help define financial institutions' social responsibility in such countries.     

The lineages of the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach

In its most abstract sense, an ecosystem is a biotic community, encompassing its physical environment, and all the interactions possible in the complex of living and nonliving components. Economics has always been about systems that explain differential output and outcomes. However, economics has generally ignored the role of entrepreneurship in economic systems, just as entrepreneurship studies have largely overlooked the role of systems in explaining the prevalence and performance of entrepreneurship. The entrepreneurial ecosystem approach has the promise to correct these shortcomings. Its two dominant lineages are the regional development literature and the strategy literature. Both lineages share common roots in ecological systems thinking, providing fresh insights into the interdependence of actors in a particular community to create new value. But studies of both regional development and strategic management have largely ignored the role of entrepreneurs in new value creation. In this paper, we will outline contributions to the entrepreneurial ecosystem approach and conclude with a promising new line of research to our understanding of the emergence, growth, and context of start-ups that have achieved great impact by developing new platforms.     

Steven Klepper: Recipient of the 2011 <Emphasis Type="Italic">Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research</Emphasis>

This article reviews the academic contributions of the 2011 receiver of the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, Professor Steven Klepper, Carnegie Mellon University. The Global Award consists of 100,000 Euro and a statuette of the internationally renowned Swedish sculpture Carl Milles. Klepper has made breakthrough analyses in the realm of industrial dynamics, emphasizing the regularities in the time paths of entry of new producers, exit of incumbent firms, spin-offs and innovation. His work is predominantly empirical but he has also played an essential role in developing more rigorous theoretical models of phenomena such as spin-offs. Of particular importance is how Klepper has managed to link traditional neoclassical models with evolutionary theory as well as entrepreneurship research with mainstream economics.     

Promoting entrepreneurship to alleviate poverty in India: An overview of government schemes,private‐sector programs,and initiatives in the citizens' sector

In recent years, entrepreneurship has achieved significance as a driver of economic growth and poverty alleviation. This article focuses on various initiatives and entities that promote capacity building and entrepreneurship development among the poor in India and pays special attention to examining the ways in which these entities can better coordinate their efforts. The article first reviews the general literature on entrepreneurship and poverty eradication followed by a conceptual framework that models the efforts of the Indian government, the private sector, and the citizens' sector in promoting entrepreneurship and capacity building. This conceptual framework is utilized to discuss efforts of social entrepreneurs and self‐help groups (SHGs) in India as well as to present a general sectoral assessment of the poverty‐alleviation schemes in the subcontinent. The article's conclusions emphasize that neither markets alone nor governments alone are enough to eradicate poverty, especially in the Indian context. Instead, a trisectoral approach that recognizes the complementarities between the government, the private sector, and the citizens' sector and encourages these sectors to collaborate may be vital to the common goal of capacity building among India's poor. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Engaging diasporas as international entrepreneurs in developing countries: In search of determinants

Diaspora has been increasingly recognized by practitioners and scholars as an important factor of development in developing economies. Through their remittances and expertise, diaspora members have become an important source of foreign direct investment and managerial capabilities. Although the literature is glutted with examples of the impact of diaspora in fostering international entrepreneurship and reducing poverty, a theoretical foundation and framework is needed to explain this impact. This study explores a theoretical foundation of the diaspora entrepreneurship. A framework identifying the determinants of the diaspora’s international new venture creation in the country of origin is developed. The study suggests that diaspora international entrepreneurship depends on the level of altruistic motivation, need of social recognition, entrepreneurial opportunities, friendliness and receptivity of the home country, as well as integration of and support to immigrants in the host countries. Propositions for diaspora entrepreneurship are developed.     

Islam,entrepreneurship, and embeddedness

This study centers on the premise that entrepreneurship is an embedded process. Although “the entrepreneur” is inherently an “individual,” entrepreneurship can never be fully disembedded from the more general social settings within which any business venture is situated. An Islamic‐based economic discursive framework should be cognizant of the different forms of sociality, spatiality, and community as well as the various norms, codes, and symbols that define society more generally. The work of Karl Polanyi on embeddedness is engaged and juxtaposed with Islam's understanding of the ideal mode of economic discursive practices. Islamic economic models and Polanyi are both critical of the corrosive effects of unbridled capitalism and individualism that ultimately lead to reification and exploitation. The conclusion recommends more small‐N case studies by researchers and entrepreneurial educational materials that emphasize the importance of networks and local embeddedness.     

Patents, knowledge spillovers, and entrepreneurship

We develop an endogenous-growth model in which we distinguish between inventors and innovators. This distinction implies that stronger protection of intellectual property rights has an inverted U-shaped effect on economic growth. Intellectual property rights protection attributes part of the rents of commercial exploitation to the inventor that would otherwise accrue to the entrepreneur. Stronger patent protection will therefore increase the incentive to do research and development (R&D) and generate new knowledge. This new knowledge has a positive effect on entrepreneurship, innovation, and growth. However, after some point, further strengthening of patent protection will reduce the returns to entrepreneurship sufficiently to reduce the overall growth rate.