Entrepreneurship Research Research Articles

Lessons from Team Entrepreneurship Research for General Entrepreneurship Theory

This paper suggests that the theory of entrepreneurship needs to be amended. This paper first shows how the phenomenon of entrepreneurial teams has become established in practice and in the literature. Then the axioms of entrepreneurship theory are discussed. This paper (with a literature review and GEM data) argues that there is an inconsistency within entrepreneurship theory: in order not to have to change the axioms of entrepreneurship theory, entrepreneurial teams were assumed to consist of individual entrepreneurs. This paper explains how that impedes advances in theory development and suggests a new taxonomy of entrepreneurs: the individual entrepreneur, the individual entrepreneur in a team, and a socially minded true team entrepreneur.

Towards a Context-Contingent Stage Theory of Entrepreneurial Opportunity: Introducing the PETII Model

Understanding opportunity is a crucial aspect of entrepreneurship research. Existing studies have extensively examined individual factors in facilitating entrepreneurial activities such as new venture creation. Although there are some discussions on contextual factors, few connect context with the origin of entrepreneurship—opportunity. Recognising the objectivity of entrepreneurial opportunity, this theoretical article first proposes two types of opportunities—innovative opportunity and imitative opportunity—to understand the nature of opportunity. It then proposes a systematic framework—the PETII (Population, Economic status, Technological advancement, Industry life cycle, Institutions) model—to analyse the role of context in the distribution of opportunity. Furthermore, it examines how both objective contextual factors and subjective individual factors influence each of the three stages in the entrepreneurship opportunity theory, from opportunity discovery, to opportunity evaluation and to opportunity exploitation. The research helps understand the origin of entrepreneurship opportunities and can stimulate thoughts on how to encourage entrepreneurship in different places. Further discussions and implications are given at the end.

Data saturation in qualitative research: A literature review in entrepreneurship study from 2004–2024

This systematic literature review examines data saturation in qualitative research within the context of entrepreneurship studies from 2004 to 2024. Data saturation, a critical concept in ensuring the rigor of qualitative research, remains inadequately defined in terms of sample size and assessment criteria across various studies. This review synthesizes 11 empirical studies, focusing on strategies such as stopping criterion, code frequency counts, and comparative methods for determining saturation. It identifies sample sizes ranging from 7 to 39 interviews, with an average saturation occurring between 10 and 12 interviews. Furthermore, the study explores the influence of different sampling methods and homogeneity of study populations on saturation outcomes. Despite the reliability of existing methods, the findings underscore the need for greater transparency and consistency in reporting saturation criteria. The review offers valuable insights for entrepreneurial researchers aiming to design qualitative studies, emphasizing the importance of tailored saturation standards based on research objectives and methodologies. This research contributes to a clearer understanding of data saturation in entrepreneurial studies and highlights the necessity for further empirical investigation into saturation across diverse qualitative methods.

Stars everywhere: Revealing the prevalence of star performers using empirical data published in entrepreneurship research

Scholars have long called for moving beyond a narrow focus on average performance toward a more direct investigation of the variance in performance. While a few studies have evaluated star entrepreneurs, most empirical research continues to focus on average performers. This lacuna has constrained not only the development of theories but also the accumulation of data on the distribution of performance. In response, this study uses simulations and heuristics to extract distributional information from descriptive statistics commonly reported in published research (i.e., mean, standard deviation, and sample size). Applying this approach to studies recently published in high-impact entrepreneurship journals shows that (a) the suggested methodology can provide rough estimates of the skew and shape of performance distributions, and (b) right-skewed, heavy-tailed distributions featuring star performers are ubiquitous in entrepreneurship, thus reinforcing calls for more direct studies of performance distributions in entrepreneurship.

Ethics and Entrepreneurship: How Recent Unanticipated Externalities Change the Scope A Bibliometric Analysis and Research Agenda

ABSTRACTThis paper aims to provide a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the current state of ethics and entrepreneurship research by using bibliometric and content analysis. Focusing on 579 papers published between 1988 and 2023, it highlights how recent, unanticipated global challenges—such as the need to combat climate change, ongoing conflicts, and pandemics—have profoundly influenced and revitalized the field. The content analysis reveals that “entrepreneurial ethics” has evolved to encompass a broad range of subtopics and debates. We analyzed the data in four time periods: 1988–2002, 2003–2008, 2009–2016, and 2017–2023 to identify the intellectual foundation of each period and the evolution of the research on the topic. What emerges is that recent research on the societal impact of entrepreneurship has expanded significantly, now covering 11 distinct research areas. This indicates that entrepreneurial ethics has become a widespread theme in entrepreneurship research, rather than an isolated sub‐field, with a notable focus on the identities of entrepreneurs, particularly women and family‐owned business. Additionally, this paper contributes to the literature on technology entrepreneurship by highlighting the limited attention given to the ethical issues that entrepreneurs face when working with new technologies and innovation, despite major external shifts in the environment. Furthermore, this research reinforces earlier findings that entrepreneurial ethics remains heavily influenced by the principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It also highlights the tendency to conflate entrepreneurial ethics with social entrepreneurship, underscoring the need for a more holistic approach to ethics in entrepreneurship research to better understand the interconnectedness of these two domains.

Tourism entrepreneurship research: a mixed embeddedness approach

Tourism entrepreneurship research: a mixed embeddedness approach

Too much of a good thing: Addressing the shape of relationship between positive media sentiment and IPO performance

The influence of mass media sentiment on the IPO performance of newly listed firms has received increasing research attention in management and entrepreneurship research. However, prior literature assumes the beneficial role of positive media sentiment in investors’ evaluation of the firm yet overlooks the potential downside of too much positive media sentiment. Based on two theories, dual processing theory and celebrity theory, we develop and test a curvilinear relationship between positive media sentiment and newly listed firms’ IPO performance. Further, we suggest that IPO market conditions, offering an important information cue, moderate this curvilinear relationship. Drawing a representative sample of newly listed U.S. firms in recent decades, we find support for the proposed inverted U-shape relationship and a moderating effect of market conditions.

Shared value in female entrepreneurship. A publicness frame in the field of knowledge sharing

PurposeWhile most research on female entrepreneurship has been conducted using the traditional private-for-profit logic, with the growing rise of hybrid and public organizational forms, the value of female entrepreneurial initiatives tends to be shared with society at large. Overcoming the traditional distinction between private vs public sectors, this paper relies on the publicness theory and aims to appreciate the shared value of female entrepreneurship by reviewing evidence from the field of knowledge sharing.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conduct a three-phase systematic literature review on female entrepreneurship and knowledge sharing based on a sample of 188 articles for the period 2010–2022 retrieved from the three most extensive databases for evaluating scientific research (i.e. WoS, Scopus and Google Scholar) using a combination of relevant keywords within business and management domain. After the performance analysis of selected publications, the authors conduct a content analysis aimed at identifying the most recurrent theoretical framing, the impact of female entrepreneurship on value creation and the use of knowledge sharing. Finally, the authors conduct a thematic analysis using the theoretical perspective of the publicness to frame how different knowledge-sharing practices have been used in female entrepreneurship to create and spread public value.FindingsThe findings reveal that female entrepreneurship research has generally adopted managerial organizational and sociological theoretical frameworks, reported positive implications on value creation and has seldom exploited knowledge-sharing practices, with particular reference to the settings of low level of publicness. In addition, based on the development of the conceptual model, the authors suggest that the practice of networking in organizational structures characterized by a high level of political and/or economic authority makes the pattern of public value-sharing with the entire ecosystem easier.Originality/valueThe authors adopt an original approach that frames female entrepreneurship research within the lens of publicness theory to highlight the knowledge-sharing practices that allow the value created by female entrepreneurial initiatives to become a shared value in organizations characterized by high levels of political and/or economic authority. The proposed framework contributes to the research on entrepreneurship and knowledge sharing by providing a structured reference point to carry forward research on gender entrepreneurship and knowledge-sharing practices through the theoretical lens of the publicness.

Investigating the effect of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in shaping digital entrepreneurial intention: the mediating role of self-efficacy

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the growing significance of digital entrepreneurship, which remains in its early stages within entrepreneurship research, with limited understanding of its determining factors. Specifically, it seeks to address the motivations driving individuals to pursue digital entrepreneurship, the factors shaping their intentions, and the essential requirements for success as digital entrepreneurs. Design/methodology/approach This study introduces a model that uses challenge and enjoyment as intrinsic motivation, compensation and outward factors as extrinsic motivation and self-efficacy as theoretical elements to predict digital entrepreneurial intention. Through a comprehensive literature review, the research establishes nine hypotheses in a model tested through structural equation modeling with a survey involving 303 students from various Indonesian universities. Findings The findings underscore the essential role of self-efficacy in forecasting digital entrepreneurial intention. Moreover, self-efficacy is a significant positive mediator in the relationships between challenge motivation, compensation motivation, outward motivation and digital entrepreneurial intention. The study also indicates that enjoyment motivation does not influence self-efficacy, and self-efficacy does not exhibit significant positive mediating effects on enjoyment motivation and digital entrepreneurial intention. The conclusions highlight the significance of intrinsic motivation through challenge, extrinsic motivation through compensation and outward factors and the role of self-efficacy in motivating students to participate in digital entrepreneurship. Originality/value This study contributes significantly to the expanding field of digital entrepreneurial intention by developing a conceptual framework that elucidates the roles of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in fostering self-efficacy, thereby shaping individuals’ intentions toward digital entrepreneurship.

Exploring the dynamics of firm growth: the interplay of decision-making logic

Purpose This paper investigates how various emergent theoretical perspectives in entrepreneurship research, representing diverse decision-making logics, influence firm growth and evolution. It explores the interaction among decision-making logics, including experimentation, affordable loss, flexibility and pre-commitment as components of effectuation, alongside causation and bricolage and their synergistic effects on firm growth. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a multi-phase, discovery-oriented approach. Initially, insights from existing literature on decision-making logic were combined with in-depth interviews with 10 Iranian entrepreneurs within the food sector. This phase used alternative template research to evaluate the principles of effectuation, causation and bricolage within case study data depicting firm growth. Subsequently, a self-administered survey was developed based on these insights and distributed to 205 entrepreneurs in Iran. The survey data was analysed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to identify key factors and pathways influencing firm growth. Findings Using a discovery-oriented approach, this study formulates a comprehensive framework detailing decision-making logics that influence firm growth. Through fsQCA, 12 distinct paths are identified, highlighting the complex interplay of causation, effectuation and bricolage in high-growth firms within the food sector. Research limitations/implications This study has limitations. FsQCA identifies only logically sufficient combinations, suggesting potential for exploring alternative pathways in future research. Given COVID-19’s impact on the food sector, examining decision-making logic across diverse contexts and industries is advisable. Additionally, exploring how bricolage, causation and effectuation affect outcomes like new product development and innovation is essential in a growth-focused context. It is also important to consider environmental and organizational factors influencing growth. Originality/value This paper pioneers the examination of emerging theoretical paradigms in entrepreneurship and their impact on firm growth. It identifies critical configurations of causation, effectuation and bricolage, providing actionable insights for navigating dynamic business environments.

Fueling Rural: The Unseen Forces of Family Background and Psychological Factors on Youth Entrepreneurship

Understanding entrepreneurial intentions among rural youth is crucial for fostering economic development; however, this demographic remains underrepresented in entrepreneurship research. This study explores the impact of entrepreneurial family backgrounds and psychological factors-such as self-efficacy, risk-taking propensity, need for achievement, and locus of control-on entrepreneurial intentions among rural youth in Deli Serdang, North Sumatera, Indonesia. A quantitative approach was utilized, employing a cross-sectional survey with data collected from a random sample of 217 rural youth through a structured questionnaire administered in person. Data analysis was conducted using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results demonstrate that both entrepreneurial family background and psychological factors significantly influence entrepreneurial intentions. Specifically, having an entrepreneurial family background positively affects these intentions, while psychological factors also play a significant role. The study validates the research instruments and offers valuable insights into how familial and psychological influences shape entrepreneurial aspirations in rural contexts, reinforcing theories related to entrepreneurial self-efficacy, motivation, and psychological capital. For policymakers, the findings highlight the importance of supporting family-based entrepreneurial initiatives and integrating family involvement into entrepreneurial education. Educators are encouraged to incorporate psychological training to cultivate traits such as self-efficacy and resilience, while practitioners should develop supportive environments that leverage both familial and psychological resources. The study’s limitations include its focus on rural youth, which may restrict generalizability, reliance on self-reported measures, and the lack of exploration into underlying mechanisms or longitudinal effects. Future research should address these limitations by incorporating diverse populations, utilizing objective measures, and examining long-term impacts.

The psychology of entrepreneurial performance—theoretical and applied: Robert A. Baron and Michael Frese, co-recipients of the 2024 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research

AbstractProfessors Robert A. Baron and Michael Frese are the joint recipients of the 2024 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research. Their research contributions have helped establish the disciplinary foundation necessary to explore entrepreneurship from theoretical and applied psychological perspectives. From a theoretical psychological perspective, Professor Baron has repeatedly introduced a disciplinary scaffolding from cognitive psychology, social psychology, and judgment and decision-making psychology to develop the field’s socio-cognitive perspective. He has examined entrepreneurship’s basic “why” questions: (1) Why do some persons but not others choose to become entrepreneurs? (2) Why do some persons but not others recognize opportunities for new products or services that can be profitably exploited? (3) Why are some entrepreneurs so much more successful than others? From an applied psychological perspective, Professor Frese has examined entrepreneurship as the epitome of a proactive approach to work, advocating the benefits of personal initiative and the need for a self-regulatory approach to performance among both small business owners and employees in transition economies. Continually taking stock of what is known about the psychology of entrepreneurship through reviews and meta-analysis, he and his students have advanced an evidence-based approach to entrepreneurial training and performance in challenging contexts. Together, Professors Baron and Frese have served as ambassadors for the field of entrepreneurship, welcoming an entire generation of micro scholars to explore the entrepreneurial process and the psychology of the entrepreneurs who enact it.

Family entrepreneurship: a bibliometric analysis and future research agenda

The family entrepreneurship regroups family members, family business and the entrepreneurship activities. This makes it a fertile and rich research field, which needs to be explored and analyzed to understand the specific behaviors and orientations of the family entrepreneurial initiatives. The main purpose of this paper is to present a bibliometric analysis and research agenda of scientific publications dealing mainly with the family entrepreneurship field. The bibliometric process is the methodological design adopted to review the previous studies about our problematic. The scope of our study is limited to the scientific articles have been published between 2000 and 2022 (September), in the three data bases: Web of sciences, Scopus and Jstor. 73 out of 181 articles selected have been retained and analyzed after the assessment process taking into consideration different inclusion and exclusion criteria. In addition, the Excel’s tools and the VOSviewer software version 1.6.18 are the main technological devices used to carry out this research. Our study shows that family entrepreneurship is a legitimate area of research, despite the fact that it is still in its pre-paradigmatic and launching stages. Thus, further academic studies dealing with the family entrepreneurship research clusters generated through the thematic and bibliometric analysis (as presented by the figure 5) need to be deepened

Save for a rainy day? How regional household savings constrain entrepreneurship after a natural disaster

AbstractWhy do some entrepreneurial ecosystems successfully adjust amid adversity while others languish? By integrating prospect theory into the entrepreneurial ecosystem literature and using a quasi-natural experimental design with a difference-in-difference-in-differences model, our theory and findings reveal that earthquakes reduce entrepreneurship in regions with high household savings, but increase entrepreneurship in regions with low savings, and these between-area differences increase over time. Reconceptualizing the meaning of savings from a resource into a key driver of loss aversion, we thus identify the surprising constraining influence of financial capital in times of adversity, yielding important implications for entrepreneurship research and policymakers.

Challenges of entrepreneurship in nursing: A narrative review

With the expansion of the global healthcare business market, nursing entrepreneurship is also expected to grow. The concept of entrepreneurship in nursing is linked to personal and professional attributes such as independence, flexibility, creativity, confidence, and responsibility. The challenges of entrepreneurship in nursing are categorized into three main areas: traditional nursing education perspectives, individual factors, and lack of support. The first challenge, traditional nursing education, includes subcategories like the absence of student start-ups, the lack of entrepreneurial content in nursing curricula, entrepreneurial knowledge among nursing educators, and the non-practical nature of nursing research in entrepreneurship. The second challenge involves individual factors, which include risk aversion, low self-belief, resistance to change, lack of knowledge, conflicting ideas, and lack of perseverance. It's important to note that perseverance is vital to overcoming these challenges. The third challenge is the lack of social support for nursing entrepreneurship, which includes subcategories like job burnout and unprofessional behavior from peers. Based on the results of this study, nursing curricula must be reviewed, with greater emphasis placed on entrepreneurship during postgraduate education. Increasing entrepreneurial knowledge and skills among nurses can enhance problem-solving abilities and risk-taking in nursing. This, in turn, can increase motivation and job satisfaction in nursing.

The theory of planned behavior explored in entrepreneurial intentions among university students in Shandong province, China

This study, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), aims to explore the entrepreneurial intentions of university students in Shandong Province, China, and analyze the major factors influencing these intentions. Structural Equation Modeling was applied to data collected from 680 students across five universities in Shandong Province. The findings reveal that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly influence the students’ entrepreneurial intentions. Specifically, a positive attitude towards the outcomes of entrepreneurship emerged as the strongest factor influencing their intentions, indicating that positive perceptions and expectations of entrepreneurship significantly enhance students’ entrepreneurial inclinations. Perceived behavioral control also showed a strong influence, suggesting that enhancing students’ self-efficacy and awareness of accessible resources is crucial for fostering entrepreneurial intentions. However, the influence of subjective norms was weaker, which may relate to specific cultural and social environmental factors. This study not only provides an empirical basis for entrepreneurship education and policy-making in Shandong Province and beyond but also offers new insights into the application of TPB in the field of entrepreneurship research.

Traditional and digital entrepreneurial ecosystems: a framework of differences and similarities

Entrepreneurial ecosystems in various geographical areas of the world are often compared in the context of entrepreneurship research. There are far fewer comparative studies on different types of ecosystems. In this study, a traditional entrepreneurial ecosystem based in Canada is compared with a digital entrepreneurial ecosystem specializing in life sciences, in Switzerland, bridging the gap between both and yielding previously unknown insights. The aim is twofold: to decipher both the differences and the similarities between the two models and to describe the predominant type of entrepreneurship in each case. The method consisted of a quantitative study of socio-economic data in combination with the administration of a qualitative analysis of interviews with—industry, government, and university—experts with links to one or the other ecosystem. The main findings showed that the traditional ecosystem had varied entrepreneurial support, public financial support, and collaborative networks between SMEs and start-ups, whereas in the specialized digital ecosystem, business support tended to be sector-specific with private financial support and networks emerging between multinationals and start-ups. Our study contributes to entrepreneurship research by showing that high-tech industries such as biotechnology and medical technology manage to go beyond a purely digital approach in digital ecosystems. The generic nature of the high-tech industries within the traditional ecosystem was the main driver of traditional entrepreneurship, while the sector-specific approaches of the industries within the specialized digital ecosystems were shown to drive innovative entrepreneurship.

Academic entrepreneurship in the humanities and social sciences: a systematic literature review and research agenda

The predominant empirical focus of academic entrepreneurship research has been in the science, technology and engineering domains. To date there has been a limited research and empirical focus on academic entrepreneurship in the humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS). This is against a background of the growing societal and policy recognition of the important contributions and impact of HASS based research. The purpose of this paper through a systematic literature review is to examine the current state of academic entrepreneurship research in HASS. Our systematic literature identified four key themes namely, actors,barriers,mechanismsandmeasurementandevaluation. From this, we develop and outline a research agenda for academic entrepreneurship in HASS.

Inside-out and outside-in: How entrepreneurial ecosystems can build legitimacy through signaling

ABSTRACT The entrepreneurial ecosystem is increasingly drawing the attention of scholars and practitioners, underscoring the importance of collective dynamics between entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial-support intermediaries in fostering entrepreneurial activity. The entrepreneurial journey is characterized by information asymmetry, with entrepreneurial actors sending signals as representations of their underlaying qualities, hoping to acquire necessary resources. Current entrepreneurship research predominantly applies signaling theory to individual and venture-level activities. However, studies that explore signaling within the broader context of entrepreneurial ecosystems are scarce. This paper aims to bridge the entrepreneurial ecosystem-signaling gap by offering insight into how emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems gain legitimacy. We analyze a nascent, privately governed entrepreneurial ecosystem located in Valencia, Spain. Employing a conceptual model based on our findings, we introduce a key boundary condition for the study of signaling in an entrepreneurship context.

Embeddedness in complex networks: Theoretical central debate, policy implications, and research agenda in ethnic entrepreneurship

Objective: This article explores ethnic entrepreneurship as an emerging organizational phenomenon, aiming to provide a comprehensive overview through a systematic literature review. Method: Triangulation employed bibliometric analysis, network analysis, citation and co-citation analysis, co-citation network, and a meta-analysis of bibliometrics over the period. It also includes content analysis demonstrating study characteristics, key findings, and suggestions for future research. Key Findings: The crucial role of ethnic networks in identity valorization and overcoming obstacles, exerting a moderating influence on entrepreneurial decisions, was identified. Furthermore, a broader theoretical framework for understanding the ethnic entrepreneurship phenomenon is synthesized. Theoretical/Methodological Contributions: A combined method of analyses is employed, offering an approach that can be adopted by similar research. The theoretical framework in which ethnic entrepreneurship studies are anchored is presented, emphasizing social immersion, co-ethnic network building, and Economic Sociology. Relevance/Originality: In a growing global migration movement, individuals have become entrepreneurs in the pursuit of ethnic valorization, equality, and survival. They face various barriers in host countries, influencing the decision to undertake entrepreneurship and their business. This study fills a gap by elucidating how research explains the interplay of these emerging phenomena. Social/Management Contributions: The article identifies future directions for ethnic entrepreneurship research, addressing crucial issues such as gender, network construction, financing, international refugee policies, public policies, ethnicity, ethnic markets, marginalization, and prejudice. Its conclusions offer valuable insights for managers, researchers, and policymakers.