The study of nascent entrepreneurship lies at the core of entrepreneurship scholarship, offering critical insights into how both entrepreneurs and ventures emerge through a contextually embedded process. This review synthesizes findings from 95 peer-reviewed articles that employ the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED I and II), two comprehensive longitudinal datasets specifically focusing on nascent entrepreneurship. Using thematic analysis, we synthesize the literature into three core dimensions—the entrepreneur, the entrepreneurial process, and the venture—and emphasize the role of context. Although research on individuals and ventures is relatively well developed, the process dimension remains underexplored, and contextual influences warrant further investigation. We also identify key methodological challenges—particularly related to construct validity—as well as emerging methodological innovations. Finally, we outline promising directions for future research, underscoring the need for more large-scale initiatives and opportunities to re-engage with the PSED’s untapped potential to advance understanding of entrepreneurial emergence.
{"title":"Mapping the Field of Nascent Entrepreneurship: A PSED-Based Review and Research Agenda","authors":"Sohrab Soleimanof, Seyyede Sharare Bagherian, Seyedeh Fatemeh Anvari, G. Tyge Payne, Alireza Feyzbakhsh","doi":"10.1177/10422587251364809","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587251364809","url":null,"abstract":"The study of nascent entrepreneurship lies at the core of entrepreneurship scholarship, offering critical insights into how both entrepreneurs and ventures emerge through a contextually embedded process. This review synthesizes findings from 95 peer-reviewed articles that employ the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED I and II), two comprehensive longitudinal datasets specifically focusing on nascent entrepreneurship. Using thematic analysis, we synthesize the literature into three core dimensions—the entrepreneur, the entrepreneurial process, and the venture—and emphasize the role of context. Although research on individuals and ventures is relatively well developed, the process dimension remains underexplored, and contextual influences warrant further investigation. We also identify key methodological challenges—particularly related to construct validity—as well as emerging methodological innovations. Finally, we outline promising directions for future research, underscoring the need for more large-scale initiatives and opportunities to re-engage with the PSED’s untapped potential to advance understanding of entrepreneurial emergence.","PeriodicalId":48443,"journal":{"name":"Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice","volume":"70 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145072653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-15DOI: 10.1177/10422587251371486
Kristie J. Neff, Marilla G. Hayman, Michael E. Cummings, Robert J. Pidduck
This study adopts a Bourdieusian lens to examine how founders’ social class origin influences venture performance through a central aspect of entrepreneurial habitus—risk-taking. In Study 1, we find that risk-taking mediates the relationship between social class origin and venture performance, advantaging those from higher social class origins. In an archival dataset, we show that an alternative measure of childhood social class similarly predicts risk-taking among self-employed individuals. In Study 2, we investigate how field-specific social capital moderates this pathway through founders’ social networks. These findings advance understanding of how early-life social class conditions shape entrepreneurial behavior and performance and imply the need for more nuanced and class-inclusive support within entrepreneurial ecosystems.
{"title":"Founders’ Social Class Origin, Risk-Taking, and Venture Performance: A Bourdieusian Lens","authors":"Kristie J. Neff, Marilla G. Hayman, Michael E. Cummings, Robert J. Pidduck","doi":"10.1177/10422587251371486","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587251371486","url":null,"abstract":"This study adopts a Bourdieusian lens to examine how founders’ social class origin influences venture performance through a central aspect of entrepreneurial habitus—risk-taking. In Study 1, we find that risk-taking mediates the relationship between social class origin and venture performance, advantaging those from higher social class origins. In an archival dataset, we show that an alternative measure of childhood social class similarly predicts risk-taking among self-employed individuals. In Study 2, we investigate how field-specific social capital moderates this pathway through founders’ social networks. These findings advance understanding of how early-life social class conditions shape entrepreneurial behavior and performance and imply the need for more nuanced and class-inclusive support within entrepreneurial ecosystems.","PeriodicalId":48443,"journal":{"name":"Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice","volume":"93 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145072654","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1177/10422587251362901
Zannie Langford, Richard Martin
Indigenous Entrepreneurship has been conceptualized as arising from and reflecting cultural characteristics common to Indigenous people internationally, yet this approach increasingly fails to capture its diversity. Drawing on a database of 19,530 Indigenous enterprises in Australia, we show that criterial approaches to defining Indigenous Entrepreneurship based on preconceived ideas about Indigenous ways of doing business do not adequately characterize Indigenous entrepreneurial activity. We propose an approach that analyses Indigenous entrepreneurialism as a strategic response to the challenges and opportunities encountered by Indigenous entrepreneurs, shifting the focus of study from expressions of indigeneity in entrepreneurship , to entrepreneurial responses to Indigenous contexts .
{"title":"Rethinking Indigenous Entrepreneurship","authors":"Zannie Langford, Richard Martin","doi":"10.1177/10422587251362901","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587251362901","url":null,"abstract":"Indigenous Entrepreneurship has been conceptualized as arising from and reflecting cultural characteristics common to Indigenous people internationally, yet this approach increasingly fails to capture its diversity. Drawing on a database of 19,530 Indigenous enterprises in Australia, we show that criterial approaches to defining Indigenous Entrepreneurship based on preconceived ideas about Indigenous ways of doing business do not adequately characterize Indigenous entrepreneurial activity. We propose an approach that analyses Indigenous entrepreneurialism as a strategic response to the challenges and opportunities encountered by Indigenous entrepreneurs, shifting the focus of study from <jats:italic>expressions of indigeneity in entrepreneurship</jats:italic> , to <jats:italic>entrepreneurial responses to Indigenous contexts</jats:italic> .","PeriodicalId":48443,"journal":{"name":"Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145056764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-04DOI: 10.1177/10422587251368240
Smita Srivastava, Stephanie B. Escudero, Pyayt P. Oo
Users are recognized as a vital source of innovation and entrepreneurship, transitioning from passive consumers to active creators. This shift has significantly impacted the entrepreneurial landscape, prompting multidisciplinary research. Using bibliometric and thematic coding, our study critically analyzes 179 articles published over a 25-year period. Our review presents a theoretical analysis and an integrative conceptual framework comprising eight inductively generated topics nested within three clusters, representing distinctive motivations, processes, and outcomes of user entrepreneurship. Our study also maps the theoretical foundations that have shaped the field, highlighting both dominant perspectives and opportunities for further theoretical development. By clarifying the distinctiveness of user entrepreneurship, our review advances theoretical understanding and provides a structured agenda for future knowledge accumulation.
{"title":"Passive Consumer to Active Creator: Review of Drivers, Processes, and Outcomes of User Entrepreneurship","authors":"Smita Srivastava, Stephanie B. Escudero, Pyayt P. Oo","doi":"10.1177/10422587251368240","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587251368240","url":null,"abstract":"Users are recognized as a vital source of innovation and entrepreneurship, transitioning from passive consumers to active creators. This shift has significantly impacted the entrepreneurial landscape, prompting multidisciplinary research. Using bibliometric and thematic coding, our study critically analyzes 179 articles published over a 25-year period. Our review presents a theoretical analysis and an integrative conceptual framework comprising eight inductively generated topics nested within three clusters, representing distinctive motivations, processes, and outcomes of user entrepreneurship. Our study also maps the theoretical foundations that have shaped the field, highlighting both dominant perspectives and opportunities for further theoretical development. By clarifying the distinctiveness of user entrepreneurship, our review advances theoretical understanding and provides a structured agenda for future knowledge accumulation.","PeriodicalId":48443,"journal":{"name":"Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice","volume":"62 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144995495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-04DOI: 10.1177/10422587251362900
Suting Hong, Massimiliano Guerini, Haemin Dennis Park
We investigate how a domestic venture capital (VC) firm’s syndication experience with reputable foreign VC firms improves its likelihood of achieving successful exits for entrepreneurial firms that it subsequently funds. We identify two complementary theoretical mechanisms: (a) domestic VC firms can gain certification from reputable foreign VC firms that improves access to superior investment opportunities and (b) they can learn from reputable foreign VC firms to better select and nurture ventures. Furthermore, the positive impact of syndication experience is particularly pronounced in facilitating exits for portfolio companies in foreign countries. Our findings highlight the enduring benefits that domestic VC firms gain from partnerships with reputable foreign VC firms.
{"title":"Global Connections, Local Impacts: The Enduring Effects of International Syndication Experience on Venture Capital Investments","authors":"Suting Hong, Massimiliano Guerini, Haemin Dennis Park","doi":"10.1177/10422587251362900","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587251362900","url":null,"abstract":"We investigate how a domestic venture capital (VC) firm’s syndication experience with reputable foreign VC firms improves its likelihood of achieving successful exits for entrepreneurial firms that it subsequently funds. We identify two complementary theoretical mechanisms: (a) domestic VC firms can gain certification from reputable foreign VC firms that improves access to superior investment opportunities and (b) they can learn from reputable foreign VC firms to better select and nurture ventures. Furthermore, the positive impact of syndication experience is particularly pronounced in facilitating exits for portfolio companies in foreign countries. Our findings highlight the enduring benefits that domestic VC firms gain from partnerships with reputable foreign VC firms.","PeriodicalId":48443,"journal":{"name":"Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144995412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-25DOI: 10.1177/10422587251364820
Eliana Crosina, Marco Mismetti, Alfredo De Massis, Michael G. Pratt, Trenton Alma Williams
We seek to make ethnography more intelligible and accessible to entrepreneurship scholars. We begin by defining ethnography and discussing the promises and challenges of conducting ethnographic studies in entrepreneurship. Next, we offer practical advice for entrepreneurship scholars interested in conducting ethnographic studies, including suggested standards for designing, executing, and writing ethnography. We conclude by outlining possibilities for future research, highlighting how ethnographic inquiry can facilitate theoretical and methodological contributions to the field of entrepreneurship.
{"title":"Ethnography in Entrepreneurship Research: Promises, Pitfalls, and Practical Pathways","authors":"Eliana Crosina, Marco Mismetti, Alfredo De Massis, Michael G. Pratt, Trenton Alma Williams","doi":"10.1177/10422587251364820","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587251364820","url":null,"abstract":"We seek to make ethnography more intelligible and accessible to entrepreneurship scholars. We begin by defining ethnography and discussing the promises and challenges of conducting ethnographic studies in entrepreneurship. Next, we offer practical advice for entrepreneurship scholars interested in conducting ethnographic studies, including suggested standards for designing, executing, and writing ethnography. We conclude by outlining possibilities for future research, highlighting how ethnographic inquiry can facilitate theoretical and methodological contributions to the field of entrepreneurship.","PeriodicalId":48443,"journal":{"name":"Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice","volume":"41 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144897885","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-08-16DOI: 10.1177/10422587251362898
Pablo Muñoz, Jonathan Kimmitt, Nick Williams
Entrepreneurs who face recurring crises must repeatedly navigate lengthy recovery processes. In this article, we go beyond immediate responses and individual-level outcomes to focus on the evolution of entrepreneurial perseverance as entrepreneurs engage with broader recovery efforts post-crisis. We examined the experiences of 33 entrepreneurs during and following the Calbuco Volcano eruptions in Chile from 2015 to 2019. We discovered three social cues that reinforce entrepreneurial perseverance over extended periods of time: descriptive (the sharing of recovery memories), injunctive (the socialization of recovery work ethic), and symbolic (the celebration of recovery legacies). Findings show how socially reinforced entrepreneurial perseverance becomes intertwined with broader recovery efforts creating a sustained collective response to crisis, which we theorize as relational entrepreneurial perseverance in extreme contexts. This changes our understanding of long-term entrepreneurial perseverance. Perseverance resides not simply in the individual entrepreneur but in social reinforcement, social support, and the capacity for connection, that is, the connection between individual actions, group principles, and community celebration. These create entrepreneurial recovery legacies that act as memory assets to be used when the next crisis hits.
{"title":"Relational Entrepreneurial Perseverance in Extreme Contexts","authors":"Pablo Muñoz, Jonathan Kimmitt, Nick Williams","doi":"10.1177/10422587251362898","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587251362898","url":null,"abstract":"Entrepreneurs who face recurring crises must repeatedly navigate lengthy recovery processes. In this article, we go beyond immediate responses and individual-level outcomes to focus on the evolution of entrepreneurial perseverance as entrepreneurs engage with broader recovery efforts post-crisis. We examined the experiences of 33 entrepreneurs during and following the Calbuco Volcano eruptions in Chile from 2015 to 2019. We discovered three social cues that reinforce entrepreneurial perseverance over extended periods of time: descriptive (the sharing of recovery memories), injunctive (the socialization of recovery work ethic), and symbolic (the celebration of recovery legacies). Findings show how socially reinforced entrepreneurial perseverance becomes intertwined with broader recovery efforts creating a sustained collective response to crisis, which we theorize as <jats:italic>relational entrepreneurial perseverance</jats:italic> in extreme contexts. This changes our understanding of long-term entrepreneurial perseverance. Perseverance resides not simply in the individual entrepreneur but in social reinforcement, social support, and the capacity for connection, that is, the connection between individual actions, group principles, and community celebration. These create entrepreneurial recovery legacies that act as memory assets to be used when the next crisis hits.","PeriodicalId":48443,"journal":{"name":"Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144897920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-14DOI: 10.1177/10422587251347051
Dean A. Shepherd, Joakim Wincent, Sarah R. Chase
Entrepreneurship researchers have focused on WEIRD samples—that is, Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic samples. This editorial suggests that not all theories formed on and tested with WEIRD samples are generalizable to non-WEIRD contexts. A richer picture of entrepreneurial phenomena can come from non-WEIRD entrepreneurship research, especially (but not exclusively) by non-WEIRD researchers with local knowledge and interests. In this editorial, we hope to motivate more non-WEIRD entrepreneurship research by highlighting the potential problems with the dominance of a WEIRD perspective in our most impactful research, introducing each element of a non-WEIRD approach to solve those problems, and offering some big-picture thoughts and methods as future research opportunities. Indeed, we provide research opportunities that could lead to contextualized entrepreneurship theories embedded in contexts not well represented in the mainstream entrepreneurship literature, largely devoted to the WEIRD. We conclude this editorial with recommendations for reviewers and editors of these mainstream entrepreneurship journals.
{"title":"What If We Are the WEIRD Ones? A Call (and Roadmap) for More Non-WEIRD Entrepreneurship Research","authors":"Dean A. Shepherd, Joakim Wincent, Sarah R. Chase","doi":"10.1177/10422587251347051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587251347051","url":null,"abstract":"Entrepreneurship researchers have focused on WEIRD samples—that is, Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic samples. This editorial suggests that not all theories formed on and tested with WEIRD samples are generalizable to non-WEIRD contexts. A richer picture of entrepreneurial phenomena can come from non-WEIRD entrepreneurship research, especially (but not exclusively) by non-WEIRD researchers with local knowledge and interests. In this editorial, we hope to motivate more non-WEIRD entrepreneurship research by highlighting the potential problems with the dominance of a WEIRD perspective in our most impactful research, introducing each element of a non-WEIRD approach to solve those problems, and offering some big-picture thoughts and methods as future research opportunities. Indeed, we provide research opportunities that could lead to contextualized entrepreneurship theories embedded in contexts not well represented in the mainstream entrepreneurship literature, largely devoted to the WEIRD. We conclude this editorial with recommendations for reviewers and editors of these mainstream entrepreneurship journals.","PeriodicalId":48443,"journal":{"name":"Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144622444","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-07-06DOI: 10.1177/10422587251347042
Patrick Figge, Lorenz Graf-Vlachy, Andreas König, Florian Demann, Martin Diessner
We examine how entrepreneurs’ use of cognitively complex language—language that involves nuance, differentiation, and comparison—influences funding decisions of early-stage investors. Our theorizing builds on the notion that individuals interpret language as a social signal and attribute another person’s language use to that person’s general dispositions. On this basis, we surmise that investors perceive an entrepreneur as more cognitively complex—that is, engaging in more nuanced and differentiated thinking—the more the entrepreneur uses cognitively complex language. Arguing that perceived cognitive complexity matches investors’ prototypical construals of entrepreneurial competence, we hypothesize a positive relationship between an entrepreneur’s use of cognitively complex language and the investment amount they receive. Drawing on our theoretical framework, we also argue that signaling cognitive complexity has a decreasing marginal effect, and that elite education functions as a credibility signal, amplifying the association between cognitively complex language and investment amount. A field study of 547 actual investment pitches and a randomized experiment with 240 professionals support our ideas. Our study introduces a more nuanced portrayal of complexity in entrepreneurial communication, accentuates the role of entrepreneurs’ signals of cognitive dispositions, and introduces the concept of cognitive complexity, and linguistic displays thereof, to entrepreneurship theory.
{"title":"Shades of Grey or Black and White? How Entrepreneurs’ Use of Cognitively Complex Language Affects Investor Funding","authors":"Patrick Figge, Lorenz Graf-Vlachy, Andreas König, Florian Demann, Martin Diessner","doi":"10.1177/10422587251347042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587251347042","url":null,"abstract":"We examine how entrepreneurs’ use of cognitively complex language—language that involves nuance, differentiation, and comparison—influences funding decisions of early-stage investors. Our theorizing builds on the notion that individuals interpret language as a social signal and attribute another person’s language use to that person’s general dispositions. On this basis, we surmise that investors perceive an entrepreneur as more cognitively complex—that is, engaging in more nuanced and differentiated thinking—the more the entrepreneur uses cognitively complex language. Arguing that perceived cognitive complexity matches investors’ prototypical construals of entrepreneurial competence, we hypothesize a positive relationship between an entrepreneur’s use of cognitively complex language and the investment amount they receive. Drawing on our theoretical framework, we also argue that signaling cognitive complexity has a decreasing marginal effect, and that elite education functions as a credibility signal, amplifying the association between cognitively complex language and investment amount. A field study of 547 actual investment pitches and a randomized experiment with 240 professionals support our ideas. Our study introduces a more nuanced portrayal of complexity in entrepreneurial communication, accentuates the role of entrepreneurs’ signals of cognitive dispositions, and introduces the concept of cognitive complexity, and linguistic displays thereof, to entrepreneurship theory.","PeriodicalId":48443,"journal":{"name":"Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-07-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144565716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-06-30DOI: 10.1177/10422587251347062
Carmen-Elena Dorobat, Matthew McCaffrey, Nicolai J. Foss, Peter G. Klein
While Knightian uncertainty (KU) has been central to entrepreneurship research for over half a century, there remains a lack of consensus on how to define, apply, and learn from the concept. We argue that, despite the apparent fragmentation of views and theories, there has been significant and valuable knowledge accumulation around KU that can inform entrepreneurship research. Reviewing 238 articles published over the past 60 years across seven disciplines, we find that (1) there is considerable congruity in how KU is discussed within, but not across, disciplines and at micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis; (2) cross-fertilization and integration of interdisciplinary insights exist but are insufficiently explored by entrepreneurship researchers; (3) progress in understanding and analyzing uncertainty may come primarily from multi-level, interdisciplinary analysis; and (4) entrepreneurship researchers may benefit from engaging the definitions and theories of uncertainty from neighboring fields like economics and decision science. We suggest a variety of research questions to unite different disciplines across levels of analysis to create a more integrated research agenda for KU in entrepreneurship studies.
{"title":"Knightian Uncertainty in Entrepreneurship Research: Retrospect and Prospect","authors":"Carmen-Elena Dorobat, Matthew McCaffrey, Nicolai J. Foss, Peter G. Klein","doi":"10.1177/10422587251347062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587251347062","url":null,"abstract":"While Knightian uncertainty (KU) has been central to entrepreneurship research for over half a century, there remains a lack of consensus on how to define, apply, and learn from the concept. We argue that, despite the apparent fragmentation of views and theories, there has been significant and valuable knowledge accumulation around KU that can inform entrepreneurship research. Reviewing 238 articles published over the past 60 years across seven disciplines, we find that (1) there is considerable congruity in how KU is discussed within, but not across, disciplines and at micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis; (2) cross-fertilization and integration of interdisciplinary insights exist but are insufficiently explored by entrepreneurship researchers; (3) progress in understanding and analyzing uncertainty may come primarily from multi-level, interdisciplinary analysis; and (4) entrepreneurship researchers may benefit from engaging the definitions and theories of uncertainty from neighboring fields like economics and decision science. We suggest a variety of research questions to unite different disciplines across levels of analysis to create a more integrated research agenda for KU in entrepreneurship studies.","PeriodicalId":48443,"journal":{"name":"Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice","volume":"149 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.5,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144515326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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