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From homo economicus to homo agens: Toward a subjective rationality for entrepreneurship

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  • Packard, Mark D.
  • Bylund, Per L.

Abstract

The aim of this article is to expound the subjectivist position on the concept of ‘rationality.’ To begin, we review the longstanding and still ongoing debate in philosophy over the differences (or not) between the natural and social sciences. While positivism, which supposes no difference between the sciences, has been the tradition whence the economic rationality construct (homo economicus and its modern variants) has derived, a longstanding interpretivist tradition holds that social science is innately distinct from, and should be studied differently than, the natural sciences. From this interpretivist vantage, we assess and critique the positivist conception of rationality and put forth a subjectivist account of rationality as a process in its stead. Rationality here emerges as an intentional process of betterment over time. Because entrepreneurship is definitionally such a process, we explore the implications of this process rationality for entrepreneurial action theory.

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  • Packard, Mark D. & Bylund, Per L., 2021. "From homo economicus to homo agens: Toward a subjective rationality for entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(6).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbvent:v:36:y:2021:i:6:s0883902621000690
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2021.106159
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    Cited by:

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    3. Wim Van Lent & Richard A. Hunt & Daniel A. Lerner, 2023. "Historiography and the excavation of nascent business venturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 285-303, June.
    4. Pollack, Jeffrey M. & Cardon, Melissa S. & Rutherford, Matthew W. & Ruggs, Enrica N. & Balachandra, Lakshmi & Baron, Robert A., 2023. "Rationality in the entrepreneurship process: Is being rational actually rational? Introduction to the special issue," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(3).
    5. Ryan W. Angus & Mark D. Packard & Brent B. Clark, 2023. "Distinguishing unpredictability from uncertainty in entrepreneurial action theory," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1147-1169, March.
    6. Kurdoglu, Rasim Serdar & Lerner, Daniel & Ates, Nufer Yasin, 2022. "Unsticking the rationality stalemate: Motivated reasoning, reality, and irrationality," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    7. Lucas, David S. & Fuller, Caleb S. & Packard, Mark D., 2022. "Made to be broken? A theory of regulatory governance and rule-breaking entrepreneurial action," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(6).

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