New Wine Calls For New Wineskins: Entrepreneurship in Times of Crisis

Abstract

Prior literature has largely focused on the resilience of entrepreneurship in times of crisis, while paying little attention to the roles of individuals, organizations, and communities in driving transformation. The recent COVID-19 pandemic presents a timely setting to further investigate the relationship between entrepreneurship and crises. This paper applies field theory in order to answer the following questions: (1) What characteristics of a crisis trigger entrepreneurship? In what ways does a crisis foster entrepreneurship?; (2) What are the factors that influence the creation and survival of new firms in times of crisis?; and (3) What are the regional characteristics that exist where entrepreneurship is active in times of crisis? After conducting a comprehensive literature review, we found that mere resiliency or a return to the status quo does not guarantee future success. Rather, it is the entrepreneurial actors who possess the skills and power necessary to transform existing fields and foster creative destruction, innovation, and community development. Only then can faster recovery, economic welfare, social welfare, and sustainable value creation be generated. This study contributes to entrepreneurship and crisis related literature by examining how entrepreneurs, firms, and communities can achieve sustainable growth, even in the midst of a crisis.