Metaphors, Stories, and the Entrepreneur in Economics

Coşgel, Metin M.

doi:10.1215/00182702-28-1-57

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 20 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Cosgel (1996) for example adopts a rhetorical perspective and examines the metaphorical constitution and storied character of economic thought and critiques the mechanistic metaphor of neoclassical economics on the grounds that it leaves no active role for the entrepreneur. In a related vein, Cardon et al (2005) probe entrepreneurs' use of the parenthood metaphor in relation to their ventures (i.e.…”

Section: The Use Of Biological Metaphors In Entrepreneurial Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-imagining the growth process: (co)-evolving metaphorical representations of entrepreneurial growth

Clarke

Holt

Blundel

2014

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We investigate the role and influence of the biological metaphor 'growth' in studies of organizations, specifically in entrepreneurial settings. We argue that we need to reconsider metaphorical expressions of growth processes in entrepreneurship studies in order to better understand growth in the light of contemporary challenges, such as environmental concerns.Our argument is developed in two stages: first, we review the role of metaphor in organization and entrepreneurship studies. Second, we reflect critically on three conceptualizations of growth that have drawn on biological metaphors: the growing organism, natural selection and co-evolution. We find the metaphor of co-evolution heuristically valuable but under-used and in need of further refinement. We propose three characteristics of the co-evolutionary metaphor that might enrich our understanding of entrepreneurial growth: relational epistemology; collectivity; and multidimensionality. Through this we provide a conceptual means of reconciling an economic impetus for entrepreneurial growth with an environmental imperative for sustainability.

show abstract

Section: The Use Of Biological Metaphors In Entrepreneurial Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re-imagining the growth process: (co)-evolving metaphorical representations of entrepreneurial growth

Clarke

Holt

Blundel

2014

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The assumptions neglected the need for a special role for the production factor responsible for risk-bearing, invention / innovation, and coordination of the other factors of production (Schumpeter 1911(Schumpeter , 1934. Cosgel (1996) contends that the absence of the entrepreneur in economic theory is due to the increasing emphasis on equilibrium and the mathematical method of economics itself.…”

Section: Entrepreneurship Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intellectual Entrepreneurship: Theories, Purpose and Challenges

Abosede¹,

Onakoya²

2013

IJBA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Entrepreneurship and intellectualism are usually seen in different forms, but one can reinforce the other. Intellectual competencies have become quite useful in an increasingly complex context of business activities and thus have the potential of reinforcing entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is one of the factors of production. The challenge for intellectual entrepreneurial organizations therefore lies less in the creation of esoteric ideas for the shelves, but collaboration with enabling agents for converting creativity in form of the knowledge assets to innovation and wisdom for it to become more relevant in promoting sustainable economic growth. However, the legal protection of intellectual property rights is sine qua non to successful implementation and long-term entrepreneurship sustainability on the platform of intellectualism.

show abstract

“…When, to use Lakoff and Johnson's (1980) example, we say, "Time is money," we are not merely using flowery language; we are betraying unspoken assumptions about time (it is "valuable" and "in short supply") that have practical implications for our actions (which we describe in terms of "saving," "spending," or "wasting" time). The relevance of metaphors-especially those associated with processes and actions (Dodd, 2002;Nicholson & Anderson, 2005)-for organization science (Cornelissen, 2005;Morgan, 2006), economics (Coşgel, 1996;McCloskey, 1995), and entrepreneurship (Cardon, Zietsma, Saparito, Matherne, & Davis, 2005;Pitt, 1998) has become increasingly apparent. Metaphors occupy an intermediate space between paradigms and puzzle solving (Morgan, 1980): They make abstract philosophical concepts concrete in ways that shape the questions we ask and how we try to answer them (Morgan, 1983).…”

Section: Metaphorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Philosophical Foundations of a Radical Austrian Approach to Entrepreneurship

Chiles

Vultee

Gupta

et al. 2009

Journal of Management Inquiry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The equilibrium-based approaches that dominate entrepreneurship research offer useful insights into some aspects of entrepreneurship, but they ignore or downplay many fundamental entrepreneurial phenomena such as individuals’ creative imaginations, firms’ resource (re)combinations, and markets’ disequilibrating tendencies—and the genuine uncertainty and widespread heterogeneity these imply. To overcome these limitations, scholars have recently introduced a nonequilibrium approach to entrepreneurship based on Ludwig Lachmann’s “radical subjectivist” brand of Austrian economics. Here, this radical Austrian approach is extended beyond Lachmann to include the work of radical subjectivism’s other noted theorist: George Shackle. More important, the article extends entrepreneurship research by systematically comparing and contrasting the nascent, radical Austrian approach to entrepreneurship with three dominant equilibrium-based approaches: neoclassical, Kirznerian, and Schumpeterian economics. Specifically, the article (a) explicates the paradigmatic philosophical assumptions about the nature of individuals, firms, and markets that underlie these approaches; (b) demonstrates how metaphor is employed as a device to concretize these assumptions; (c) examines the research questions that arise from the assumptions these metaphors reflect; and (d) uses the Japanese “beer wars” of the 1980s and 1990s to illustrate one methodological approach (hermeneutics) researchers can adopt to apply these assumptions, metaphors, and questions to study entrepreneurial phenomena from a radical subjectivist perspective.

show abstract

Metaphors, Stories, and the Entrepreneur in Economics

Cited by 21 publications

References 20 publications

Re-imagining the growth process: (co)-evolving metaphorical representations of entrepreneurial growth

Re-imagining the growth process: (co)-evolving metaphorical representations of entrepreneurial growth

Intellectual Entrepreneurship: Theories, Purpose and Challenges

The Philosophical Foundations of a Radical Austrian Approach to Entrepreneurship

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About