Entrepreneurship: Exploring the knowledge base
Författare
Summary, in English
Entrepreneurship research has a long tradition and since the 1980s the field has grown significantly. In this study we identify the 'knowledge producers' who have shaped the field over time and their core entrepreneurship research works. A unique database consisting of all references in twelve entrepreneurship 'handbooks' (or state-of-the-art books) has been developed. The chapters in these handbooks were written by experts within the field, and it can be assumed that the most frequently cited references represent 'core knowledge' with relevance to entrepreneurship research. From our analysis, it appears that entrepreneurship is a rather changeable field of research, closely linked to disciplines such as 'management studies' and 'economics'. Over time, the field has become more formalized with its own core knowledge, research specialities and an increasing number of 'insider works'. However, it is still based on some fairly old theoretical frameworks imported from mainstream disciplines, although during the last decade we have seen the emergence of a number of new field-specific concepts and theories. We argue that to successfully develop entrepreneurship research in the future, we need to relate new research opportunities to earlier knowledge within the field, which calls for a stronger 'knowledge-based' focus. We would also like to see greater integration between the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation studies in the future. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Avdelning/ar
Publiceringsår
2012
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
1154-1181
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
Research Policy
Volym
41
Issue
7
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Elsevier
Ämne
- Information Studies
- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Nyckelord
- Entrepreneurship
- Research field
- Handbooks
- Bibliometric analysis
Status
Published
Projekt
- Visualizing Research Areas
Forskningsgrupp
- Information Studies
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 0048-7333