Uncovering the relationship between entrepreneurship and wealth: an interdisciplinary review and research agenda

Given the centrality of entrepreneurial activity to the accumulation, reproduction, and legitimization of wealth – and conversely, of wealth in the form of capital to foster entrepreneurship – it might be reasonable to expect a plethora of research on the relationship between entrepreneurship and wealth. However, as we demonstrate in our interdisciplinary literature review, a surprising lack of engagement exists with regard to this relationship. Sociological studies of wealth inequality rarely address entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship research rarely addresses wealth. We systematically review, discuss, and synthesize the discourse in the leading journals of both fields. In the sociological discourse on wealth, we find that entrepreneurship is seen as one of many sources of income and wealth, and as a means of legitimizing its accumulation. However, the social practices, actors, and institutions that mediate the concentration of wealth through entrepreneurship, as well as the structural power of wealth in entrepreneurial activity, are rarely addressed. Similarly, in entrepreneurship research, we show that considerable attention is paid to the role of family businesses, transgenerational wealth, and non-financial wealth (“socioemotional wealth”), whilst the fundamental role of these factors in fostering wealth concentration more broadly remains largely unremarked upon in the literature. We therefore suggest future research that systematically engages with how entrepreneurial activity shapes wealth accumulation, and how wealth, in turn, structures entrepreneurial opportunities and outcomes. With this review, we contribute to advancing debates on inequality, social mobility, and economic development.