Entrepreneurship: Exploring the knowledge base

Abstract

Entrepreneurship research has a long tradition and since the 1980s the field has grown significantly. In this study we identify the ‘knowledge producers’ who have shaped the field over time and their core entrepreneurship research works. A unique database consisting of all references in twelve entrepreneurship ‘handbooks’ (or state-of-the-art books) has been developed. The chapters in these handbooks were written by experts within the field, and it can be assumed that the most frequently cited references represent ‘core knowledge’ with relevance to entrepreneurship research.\ud \ud From our analysis, it appears that entrepreneurship is a rather changeable field of research, closely linked to disciplines such as ‘management studies’ and ‘economics’. Over time, the field has become more formalized with its own core knowledge, research specialities and an increasing number of ‘insider works’. However, it is still based on some fairly old theoretical frameworks imported from mainstream disciplines, although during the last decade we have seen the emergence of a number of new field-specific concepts and theories. We argue that to successfully develop entrepreneurship research in the future, we need to relate new research opportunities to earlier knowledge within the field, which calls for a stronger ‘knowledge-based’ focus. We would also like to see greater integration between the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation studies in the future

Muppets and Gazelles: Political and Methodological Biases in Entrepreneurship Research

“…For the majority of the 20th century, interest in entrepreneurs was limited (Landström et al, 2012). Large firms had emerged in the late 19th century with higher levels of productivity and innovation (Chandler, 1990;Henrekson, 2005;Schumpeter, 1942).…”

“…The roots of this new entrepreneurship-focused economic model trace back from implementation in the late 1970s, to Chicago in the 1950s, and back to Vienna in the 1930s (Judt, 2010: 13;Mirowski, 2007 Hebert and Link (2006, p393) classified entrepreneurial theories into three groups: the Austrian figure significantly in entrepreneurship citations (Landström et al, 2012). 4 Their worldview was framed by the turmoil of the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, World War I, the Great Depression, banking crises, stagflation, economic dislocation, labor revolt, the establishment of "Red Vienna," a civil war and then reactionary coup in 1934, and finally a Nazi invasion and World War II.…”

“…Section 2 sets out the historical context surrounding the increased interest in entrepreneurship in the 1980s, which created new demand for research showing a positive impact. In doing so, it explains why entrepreneurship research is so influenced by a small group of Austrian school economists (see Landström et al, 2012) despite their earlier marginal influence. Section 3 explores some of the methodological problems in assessing this value to explain how the supply of research could match this demand and allow a positive view to persist.…”

Product and process innovation in manufacturing firms: a 30-year bibliometric analysis

“…To address such a gap, we propose a bibliometric study that covers the years from 1985 to 2015. In fact, bibliometric studies have shown their usefulness in a broad range of fields such as management (Podsakoff et al, 2008), entrepreneurship (Landström et al, 2012;Marzi et al, 2017a;2017b), expatriates , corporate social responsibilities , supply chain ( Gonzalez-Loureiro, et al, 2015), operations management (Hsieh & Chang, 2009;Zhu et al, 2015), and innovation (Fagerberg et al, 2012;Appio et al, 2016) by helping scholars to sort the streams of research from the "tangled forest" of the scientific proliferation. Thus, the data collected in this paper covers thirty years of research in such a field allowing scholars to have a wider picture of the knowledge base created.…”

A CULTure of entrepreneurship education

“…Landström and Benner 2013;Landström, Harirchi, and Åström 2012;Watson 2013;Welter and Lasch 2008). Through classroom vignettes, and a discussion of deities, rituals, and ideas of salvation evident in EE, we discuss how the institutionalisation of entrepreneurship involves a normative promotion of beliefs and values and therefore compares with forms of evangelising (Tedmanson et al 2012;Du Gay 1996).…”