Abstract
The Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship has captured the imagination of the public, the attention of the public policy community throughout the world who want to emulate it, and the focus of scholars seeking to understand it. Entrepreneurship has enabled the Silicon Valley region to harness the opportunities afforded by globalization rather than succumbing as a victim. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that there are limits to the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship in addressing the most compelling contemporary economic and social problems and that a broader, more inclusive understanding of and approach to entrepreneurship might be more useful.
Highlights
The Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship (Pahnke and Welter 2019; and Herrmann 2019) has captured the imagination of the world
While the concept of entrepreneurship clearly spans a broad spectrum of organizations and behavior, the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship by contrast has a singular focus on performance, and in particular growth and innovation (Audretsch et al 2015; and Pahnke and Welter 2019)
After a decade of divergent trajectories between the entrepreneurially driven American economy and the European economies, with their managed economies in traditional manufacturing industries, a new view coalesced among thought leaders in business and policy about the driving force underlying competitiveness and economic performance in the rapidly globalizing economy, BIn particular, what most of the world, including the Americans themselves had learned by the end of that decade that they did not know or understand in any fundamental way at its beginning, was the crucial role played by knowledge and ideas along with entrepreneurship as a key vehicle to transform that knowledge and ideas into innovation, growth, employment and competitiveness in a rapidly globalizing economy^ (Audretsch and Lehmann 2016, p. 8)
Summary
The Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship (Pahnke and Welter 2019; and Herrmann 2019) has captured the imagination of the world. The Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship has generated a strong and sustained economic performance across all of the most salient units of analysis, ranging from individual entrepreneurs and their employees, to firms and industries, and to cities, regions, states, and even countries. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that there are limits to the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship in addressing the most compelling contemporary economic and social problems and that a broader, more inclusive understanding of and approach to entrepreneurship might be more useful. The second section of this paper explains what exactly constitutes the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship along with how and why it emerged. The third section explains why the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship may be limited in providing solutions to some of the most urgent contemporary social and economic problems. This paper suggests that in such a broader, more contextdependent view of entrepreneurship, the Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship becomes just one, albeit highly compelling and important, particular type of entrepreneurship
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
