IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v61y2023i4d10.1007_s11187-023-00820-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Making contributions: personal reflections from the co-creative evolution of entrepreneurship research

Author

Listed:
  • Per Davidsson

    (Jönköping International Business School
    Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research (ACE), QUT)

Abstract

This essay reflects on the last few decades’ evolution of Ideas, Evidence, Concepts, and Methods in the multidisciplinary, multi-level, and multi-methodological field of entrepreneurship research. Using illustrations from my own career and how prior recipients of the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research guided and inspired them, I describe the journey from early empirical exploration to understand the nature of the phenomenon to more recent, endogenous theory-development and -testing, heralding each as an indispensable steppingstone in meaningful knowledge development. The essay ends with an ode to the collective, co-creating nature of our knowledge-building enterprise.

Suggested Citation

  • Per Davidsson, 2023. "Making contributions: personal reflections from the co-creative evolution of entrepreneurship research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1391-1410, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:61:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s11187-023-00820-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-023-00820-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-023-00820-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-023-00820-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Per Davidsson & Scott Gordon, 2012. "Panel studies of new venture creation: a methods-focused review and suggestions for future research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 853-876, November.
    2. Gry Agnete Alsos & Lars Kolvereid, 1998. "The Business Gestation Process of Novice, Serial, and Parallel Business Founders," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 22(4), pages 101-114, July.
    3. Johannisson, Bengt, 1988. "Business formation -- a network approach," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 4(3-4), pages 83-99.
    4. Schade, Philipp & Schuhmacher, Monika C., 2022. "Digital infrastructure and entrepreneurial action-formation: A multilevel study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).
    5. Per Davidsson & Johan Wiklund, 2001. "Levels of Analysis in Entrepreneurship Research: Current Research Practice and Suggestions for the Future," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 25(4), pages 81-100, July.
    6. Shim, Jaehu & Davidsson, Per, 2018. "Shorter than we thought: The duration of venture creation processes," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 10-16.
    7. Mollick, Ethan, 2014. "The dynamics of crowdfunding: An exploratory study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-16.
    8. Bacq, Sophie & Drover, Will & Kim, Phillip H., 2021. "Writing bold, broad, and rigorous review articles in entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(6).
    9. Gartner, William B., 1990. "What are we talking about when we talk about entrepreneurship?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 15-28, January.
    10. Unger, Jens M. & Rauch, Andreas & Frese, Michael & Rosenbusch, Nina, 2011. "Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 341-358, May.
    11. Burnell, Devin & Stevenson, Regan & Fisher, Greg, 2023. "Early-stage business model experimentation and pivoting," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4).
    12. Birger Wernerfelt, 1984. "A resource‐based view of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 171-180, April.
    13. Davis, Steven J & Haltiwanger, John & Schuh, Scott, 1996. "Small Business and Job Creation: Dissecting the Myth and Reassessing the Facts," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 8(4), pages 297-315, August.
    14. McMullen, Jeffery S., 2019. "A wakeup call for the field of entrepreneurship and its evaluators," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 413-417.
    15. Gerrit Wit & Jan Kok, 2014. "Do small businesses create more jobs? New evidence for Europe," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 283-295, February.
    16. Davidsson, Per, 1991. "Continued entrepreneurship: Ability, need, and opportunity as determinants of small firm growth," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 6(6), pages 405-429, November.
    17. Davidsson, Per & Lindmark, Leif & Olofsson, Christer, 1998. "The Extent of Overestimation of Small Firm Job Creation--An Empirical Examination of the Regression Bias," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 87-100, August.
    18. Cyrine Ben-Hafaïedh & Anaïs Hamelin, 2023. "Questioning the Growth Dogma: A Replication Study," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(2), pages 628-647, March.
    19. Paul Reynolds, 2009. "Screening item effects in estimating the prevalence of nascent entrepreneurs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 151-163, August.
    20. Birley, Sue, 1985. "The role of networks in the entrepreneurial process," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 107-117.
    21. Andreas Rauch, 2020. "Opportunities and Threats in Reviewing Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(5), pages 847-860, September.
    22. Davidsson, Per, 2022. "McBride and Wuebker's Socially Objective Opportunities: Do they move the field forward?," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    23. David J. Hansen & Rodney Shrader & Javier Monllor, 2011. "Defragmenting Definitions of Entrepreneurial Opportunity," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(2), pages 283-304, April.
    24. Davidsson, Per & Steffens, Paul & Fitzsimmons, Jason, 2009. "Growing profitable or growing from profits: Putting the horse in front of the cart?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 388-406, July.
    25. Fisch, Christian, 2019. "Initial coin offerings (ICOs) to finance new ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 1-22.
    26. Jiyoung Kimjeon & Per Davidsson, 2022. "External Enablers of Entrepreneurship: A Review and Agenda for Accumulation of Strategically Actionable Knowledge," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(3), pages 643-687, May.
    27. Per Davidsson, 2004. "Researching Entrepreneurship," International Studies in Entrepreneurship, Springer, number 978-0-387-23054-2, December.
    28. Karen Geurts, 2016. "Longitudinal firm-level data: problems and solutions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(3), pages 425-445, March.
    29. Delmar, Frederic & Davidsson, Per & Gartner, William B., 2003. "Arriving at the high-growth firm," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 189-216, March.
    30. Per Davidsson, 2005. "Paul D. Reynolds: Entrepreneurship Research Innovator, Coordinator, and Disseminator," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 351-358, May.
    31. Bennett, Daniel L., 2019. "Infrastructure investments and entrepreneurial dynamism in the U.S," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 1-1.
    32. John Haltiwanger & Ron S. Jarmin & Javier Miranda, 2013. "Who Creates Jobs? Small versus Large versus Young," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 347-361, May.
    33. Per Davidsson, 2023. "Ditching Discovery-Creation for Unified Venture Creation Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(2), pages 594-612, March.
    34. Davidsson, Per & Grégoire, Denis A. & Lex, Maike, 2021. "Venture Idea Assessment (VIA): Development of a needed concept, measure, and research agenda," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    35. Zoltan Acs & David Audretsch, 1990. "Innovation and Small Firms," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011131, December.
    36. Kim, Phillip H. & Longest, Kyle C. & Lippmann, Stephen, 2015. "The tortoise versus the hare: Progress and business viability differences between conventional and leisure-based founders," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 185-204.
    37. Justin J. P. Jansen & Ciaran Heavey & Tom J. M. Mom & Zeki Simsek & Shaker A. Zahra, 2023. "Scaling‐up: Building, Leading and Sustaining Rapid Growth Over Time," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 581-604, May.
    38. Frederic Delmar & Per Davidsson, 2000. "Where do they come from? Prevalence and characteristics of nascent entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, January.
    39. Sebastian Hinderer & Andreas Kuckertz, 2022. "The bioeconomy transformation as an external enabler of sustainable entrepreneurship," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 2947-2963, November.
    40. Chen, Jean Jinghan & Cui, Chuantao & Hunt, Richard A. & Li, Leona Shao-Zhi, 2020. "External enablement of new venture creation: An exploratory, query-driven assessment of China's high-speed rail expansion," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(6).
    41. Frederik von Briel & Per Davidsson & Jan Recker, 2018. "Digital Technologies as External Enablers of New Venture Creation in the IT Hardware Sector," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(1), pages 47-69, January.
    42. James J. Chrisman & Donald O. Neubaum & Friederike Welter & Karl Wennberg, 2022. "Knowledge Accumulation in Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(3), pages 479-496, May.
    43. Cooper, Arnold C. & Gimeno-Gascon, F. Javier & Woo, Carolyn Y., 1994. "Initial human and financial capital as predictors of new venture performance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 371-395, September.
    44. Shaker A. Zahra & Harry J. Sapienza & Per Davidsson, 2006. "Entrepreneurship and Dynamic Capabilities: A Review, Model and Research Agenda," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 917-955, June.
    45. Davidsson, Per, 2015. "Entrepreneurial opportunities and the entrepreneurship nexus: A re-conceptualization," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 674-695.
    46. Chalmers, Dominic & Matthews, Russell & Hyslop, Amy, 2021. "Blockchain as an external enabler of new venture ideas: Digital entrepreneurs and the disintermediation of the global music industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 577-591.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. David J. Storey & Martin Andersson & Magnus Henrekson & Sarah Jack & Mikael Stenkula & Karin Thorburn & Caroline Wigren-Kristoferson & Ivo Zander, 2023. "Per Davidsson: recipient of the 2023 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1381-1390, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Per Davidsson, 2023. "Ditching Discovery-Creation for Unified Venture Creation Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(2), pages 594-612, March.
    2. David J. Storey & Martin Andersson & Magnus Henrekson & Sarah Jack & Mikael Stenkula & Karin Thorburn & Caroline Wigren-Kristoferson & Ivo Zander, 2023. "Per Davidsson: recipient of the 2023 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1381-1390, December.
    3. Per Davidsson & Jan Henrik Gruenhagen, 2021. "Fulfilling the Process Promise: A Review and Agenda for New Venture Creation Process Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1083-1118, September.
    4. Jiyoung Kimjeon & Per Davidsson, 2022. "External Enablers of Entrepreneurship: A Review and Agenda for Accumulation of Strategically Actionable Knowledge," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(3), pages 643-687, May.
    5. Bergner, Sören Martin & Bräutigam, Rainer & Evers, Maria Theresia & Spengel, Christoph, 2017. "The use of SME tax incentives in the European Union," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-006, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Schade, Philipp & Schuhmacher, Monika C., 2022. "Digital infrastructure and entrepreneurial action-formation: A multilevel study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).
    7. Erik Lundmark & Anna Krzeminska & Dean A. Shepherd, 2019. "Images of Entrepreneurship: Exploring Root Metaphors and Expanding Upon Them," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 138-170, January.
    8. Geurts, Karen & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes, 2016. "Firm creation and post-entry dynamics of de novo entrants," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 59-104.
    9. Susan Müller & Alyssa Lara Kirst & Heiko Bergmann & Barbara Bird, 2023. "Entrepreneurs’ actions and venture success: a structured literature review and suggestions for future research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 199-226, January.
    10. Franziska Schlichte & Sebastian Junge & Jan Mammen, 2019. "Being at the right place at the right time: does the timing within technology waves determine new venture success?," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(8), pages 995-1021, December.
    11. Alexander McKelvie & Johan Wiklund, 2010. "Advancing Firm Growth Research: A Focus on Growth Mode Instead of Growth Rate," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(2), pages 261-288, March.
    12. Per Davidsson & Scott Gordon, 2012. "Panel studies of new venture creation: a methods-focused review and suggestions for future research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 853-876, November.
    13. Klyver, Kim & Steffens, Paul & Lomberg, Carina, 2020. "Having your cake and eating it too? A two-stage model of the impact of employment and parallel job search on hybrid nascent entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(5).
    14. Christian Linder & Christian Lechner & Frank Pelzel, 2020. "Many Roads Lead to Rome: How Human, Social, and Financial Capital Are Related to New Venture Survival," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(5), pages 909-932, September.
    15. Simon C. Parker & Thomas Åstebro & David B Audretsch & Robert Blackburn & Andrew Burke & Alex Coad & Marc Cowling & Per Davidsson & Michael Fritsch & Francis Greene & Paul D. Reynolds & Roy Thurik, 2024. "“Remembering David J Storey, a pioneer of the entrepreneurship field”," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 1-21, January.
    16. Weking, Jörg & Desouza, Kevin C. & Fielt, Erwin & Kowalkiewicz, Marek, 2023. "Metaverse-enabled entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    17. Chalmers, Dominic & Fisch, Christian & Matthews, Russell & Quinn, William & Recker, Jan, 2022. "Beyond the bubble: Will NFTs and digital proof of ownership empower creative industry entrepreneurs?," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    18. Elert, Niklas & Sjöö, Karolin & Wennberg, Karl, 2020. "When Less Is More: Why Limited Entrepreneurship Education May Result in Better Entrepreneurial Outcomes," Working Paper Series 1322, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    19. Yannis Caloghirou & Ioannis Giotopoulos & Alexandra Kontolaimou & Aggelos Tsakanikas, 2022. "Inside the black box of high-growth firms in a crisis-hit economy: corporate strategy, employee human capital and R&D capabilities," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 1319-1345, September.
    20. Kim Klyver & Benson Honig & Paul Steffens, 2018. "Social support timing and persistence in nascent entrepreneurship: exploring when instrumental and emotional support is most effective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 709-734, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Co-creation; Cross-National; Entrepreneurship; External enabler; Firm growth; History; Knowledge accumulation; New business; Opportunity; Profitability; Research collaboration; Small business; Venture creation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:61:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s11187-023-00820-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.