Taxonomy of Entrepreneurship – A Means-Oriented Approach

The growth of entrepreneurship literature spurred a discussion on the distinct characteristics of the different types of entrepreneurship, with most attention being given to market, social, and political entrepreneurship. In organizing the inquiry around these supposedly distinct types of entrepreneurship, scholars tend to focus on the goals entrepreneurs pursue: market entrepreneurs are portrayed as driven by profit, political entrepreneurs are driven by rents, and social entrepreneurs are thought to be driven by other, supposedly less venal, motivations. This paper presents the shortcomings of this ends-oriented taxonomy and offers an alternative approach for organizing inquiry, one that originates from Richard Wagner’s framework of Entangled Political Economy and his distinction between voluntary and involuntary investors. I argue that instead of focusing on the ends, the taxonomy of entrepreneurship should focus on the means, in particular, on whether the resources that support the venture were obtained through cooperation or coercion.