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The Meaning of Entrepreneurship: A Modular Concept

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Listed author(s):
  • Michael Peneder

    (WIFO)

Abstract

Entrepreneurship has been characterised as one of the most intriguing but equally elusive concepts in economics. This critical review first surveys its major intellectual roots and then proposes a modular concept of entrepreneurship that preserves its essentially distinctive behavioural, functional, and occupational dimensions. It argues that the behavioural definition identifies the only attribute that is both comprehensive and unique to the nature of entrepreneurship, while the functional and occupational definitions add what is specificity required for many analytical purposes. To validate the concept, the paper discusses the appropriate empirical units of observation and maps a general policy framework.

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File URL: http://www.wifo.ac.at/wwa/pubid/35399
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Paper provided by WIFO in its series WIFO Working Papers with number 335.

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Length: 34 pages
Date of creation: 16 Mar 2009
Handle: RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2009:i:335
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Keywords: Entrepreneurship; market co-ordination; innovation; technology diffusion; occupational choice;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
  • B15 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary

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  1. Serguei Kaniovski & Michael Peneder, 2008. "Determinants of firm survival: a duration analysis using the generalized gamma distribution," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 41-58, March.
  2. Enrico Santarelli & Marco Vivarelli, 2007. "Entrepreneurship and the process of firms’ entry, survival and growth," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(3), pages 455-488, June.
  3. Magnus Henrekson & Dan Johansson, 2010. "Gazelles as job creators: a survey and interpretation of the evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 227-244, September.
  4. Thomas Grebel & Andreas Pyka & Horst Hanusch, 2004. "An evolutionary approach to the theory of entrepreneurship," Chapters,in: Applied Evolutionary Economics and Complex Systems, chapter 7 Edward Elgar Publishing.
  5. Witt, Ulrich, 1998. "Imagination and leadership - The neglected dimension of an evolutionary theory of the firm," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 161-177, April.
  6. Schmitz, James A, Jr, 1989. "Imitation, Entrepreneurship, and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(3), pages 721-739, June.
  7. Nadim Ahmad & Anders Hoffman, 2008. "A Framework for Addressing and Measuring Entrepreneurship," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2008/2, OECD Publishing.
  8. Kihlstrom, Richard E & Laffont, Jean-Jacques, 1979. "A General Equilibrium Entrepreneurial Theory of Firm Formation Based on Risk Aversion," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(4), pages 719-748, August.
  9. Silva, Olmo, 2007. "The Jack-of-All-Trades entrepreneur: Innate talent or acquired skill?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 118-123, November.
  10. Baumol William J. & Litan Robert E & Schramm Carl J, 2007. "Sustaining Entrepreneurial Capitalism," Capitalism and Society, De Gruyter, vol. 2(2), pages 1-38, November.
  11. Ulrich Witt, 1999. "Do Entrepreneurs Need Firms? A Contribution to a Missing Chapter in Austrian Economics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 11(1), pages 99-109, January.
  12. Albert N. Link, 2007. "Public Policy and Entrepreneurship," Chapters,in: Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship Policy, chapter 7 Edward Elgar Publishing.
  13. Holmes, Thomas J & Schmitz, James A, Jr, 1990. "A Theory of Entrepreneurship and Its Application to the Study of Business Transfers," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(2), pages 265-294, April.
  14. Wennekers, Sander & Thurik, Roy, 1999. "Linking Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 27-55, August.
  15. Isabel Grilo & Jesus-Maria Irigoyen, 2006. "Entrepreneurship in the EU: To Wish and not to be," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 305-318, 05.
  16. Hartog, Joop & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada & Jonker, Nicole, 2002. "Linking Measured Risk Aversion to Individual Characteristics," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 3-26.
  17. Schultz, Theodore W, 1975. "The Value of the Ability to Deal with Disequilibria," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 827-846, September.
  18. Roy Thurik & Isabel Grilo, 2005. "Latent and actual entrepreneurship in Europe and the US: some recent developments," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2005-24, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
  19. Beck, Thorsten & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2008. "Financing patterns around the world: Are small firms different?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 467-487, September.
  20. Ekelund, Robert B, Jr & Hebert, Robert F, 1991. "Dupuit's Characteristics-Based Theory of Consumer Behavior and Entrepreneurship," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 19-34.
  21. Nadim Ahmad & Richard G. Seymour, 2008. "Defining Entrepreneurial Activity: Definitions Supporting Frameworks for Data Collection," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2008/1, OECD Publishing.
  22. Van Praag, C Mirjam & Van Ophem, Hans, 1995. "Determinants of Willingness and Opportunity to Start as an Entrepreneur," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 513-540.
  23. T. Grebel, 2007. "Neo-Schumpetarian Perspectives in Entreprenurship Research," Chapters,in: Elgar Companion to Neo-Schumpeterian Economics, chapter 9 Edward Elgar Publishing.
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Cited by:

  1. Michael Peneder & Martin Woerter, 2014. "Competition, R&D and innovation: testing the inverted-U in a simultaneous system," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 653-687, July.
  2. Magnus Henrekson & Dan Johansson & Mikael Stenkula, 2010. "Taxation, Labor Market Policy and High-Impact Entrepreneurship," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 10(3), pages 275-296, September.
  3. Michael Peneder & Andreas Resch, 2015. "Schumpeter and venture finance: radical theorist, broke investor, and enigmatic teacher," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(6), pages 1315-1352.
  4. Sven-Olov Daunfeldt & Niklas Elert & Dan Johansson, 2014. "The Economic Contribution of High-Growth Firms: Do Policy Implications Depend on the Choice of Growth Indicator?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 337-365, September.
  5. Pablo Gluzmann & David Jaume & Leonardo Gasparini, 2012. "Decisiones laborales en América Latina: el caso de los emprendedores. Un estudio sobre la base de encuestas de hogares," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0137, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
  6. Peneder, Michael, 2010. "Technological regimes and the variety of innovation behaviour: Creating integrated taxonomies of firms and sectors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 323-334, April.
  7. Werner Hölzl, 2010. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship Policy: Introduction to the Special Issue," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 10(3), pages 187-197, September.

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