IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/sbusec/v52y2019i2d10.1007_s11187-018-0094-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Three waves and counting: the rising tide of contextualization in entrepreneurship research

Author

Listed:
  • Friederike Welter

    (Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn
    University of Siegen)

  • Ted Baker

    (Rutgers University
    University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business)

  • Katharine Wirsching

    (University of Augsburg)

Abstract

Although the field was initially slow on the uptake, contextualization of entrepreneurship research has come a long way in recent years. Arguably, entrepreneurship demands contextualization more than many other fields, because not only is entrepreneurship broad and diverse in its scope but it is also frequently about the creation of differences. In this paper, we outline three recent and overlapping waves of contextualization in the entrepreneurship field. The discussion has moved from challenging the “standard” or Silicon Valley model of entrepreneurship by considering the why, what, and how of entrepreneurship (first wave) towards considering more subjective elements and the construction and enactment of contexts (second wave), through challenging us to deepen our theorizing by broadening the domain of entrepreneurship research (third wave). The articles in this special issue on “Entrepreneurship in Context” represent this third wave. Taken together, they illustrate entrepreneurial diversity and comprehend entrepreneurship and innovation as everyday activities. We end with a brief consideration of where the rising tide of contextualization may take the field during the next few years.

Suggested Citation

  • Friederike Welter & Ted Baker & Katharine Wirsching, 2019. "Three waves and counting: the rising tide of contextualization in entrepreneurship research," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 319-330, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:sbusec:v:52:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s11187-018-0094-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11187-018-0094-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11187-018-0094-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11187-018-0094-5?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. Deniz Ucbasaran & Paul Westhead & Mike Wright, 2001. "The Focus of Entrepreneurial Research: Contextual and Process Issues," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 25(4), pages 57-80, July.
    2. Aldrich, Howard E. & Cliff, Jennifer E., 2003. "The pervasive effects of family on entrepreneurship: toward a family embeddedness perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 573-596, September.
    3. David, Audretsch & Donald, Kuratko & Albert, Link, 2015. "Making Sense of the Elusive Paradigm of Entrepreneurship," UNCG Economics Working Papers 15-4, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics.
    4. Randerson, Kathleen & Bettinelli, Cristina & Fayolle, Alain & Anderson, Alistair, 2015. "Family entrepreneurship as a field of research: Exploring its contours and contents," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 143-154.
    5. Sabine Müller & Steffen Korsgaard, 2018. "Resources and bridging: the role of spatial context in rural entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1-2), pages 224-255, January.
    6. Johan Gaddefors & Niclas Cronsell, 2009. "Returnees and Local Stakeholders Co-producing the Entrepreneurial Region," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(8), pages 1191-1203, January.
    7. Carter, Sara & Kuhl, Aniela & Marlow, Susan & Mwaura, Samuel, 2017. "Households as a Site of Entrepreneurial Activity," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 13(2), pages 81-190, June.
    8. Royston Greenwood & Amalia Magán Díaz & Stan Xiao Li & José Céspedes Lorente, 2010. "The Multiplicity of Institutional Logics and the Heterogeneity of Organizational Responses," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 521-539, April.
    9. William Gartner, 2008. "Variations in entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 351-361, December.
    10. Joep P. Cornelissen & Jean S. Clarke & Alan Cienki, 2012. "Sensegiving in entrepreneurial contexts : The use of metaphors in speech and gesture to gain and sustain support for novel business ventures," Post-Print hal-02312339, HAL.
    11. Ana María Peredo & James J. Chrisman, 2017. "Conceptual foundations: community-based enterprise and community development," Chapters, in: Maarten van Ham & Darja Reuschke & Reinout Kleinhans & Colin Mason & Stephen Syrett (ed.), Entrepreneurial Neighbourhoods, chapter 8, pages 151-178, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Dorado, Silvia & Ventresca, Marc J., 2013. "Crescive entrepreneurship in complex social problems: Institutional conditions for entrepreneurial engagement," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 69-82.
    13. Cyrine Ben-Hafaïedh & Thomas M. Cooney, 2017. "Research Handbook on Entrepreneurial Teams: Theory and Practice," Post-Print hal-01803141, HAL.
    14. Chris Steyaert & Jerome Katz, 2004. "Reclaiming the space of entrepreneurship in society: geographical, discursive and social dimensions," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 179-196, May.
    15. Jean S. Clarke, 2011. "Revitalizing Entrepreneurship : How Visual Symbols are Used in Entrepreneurial Performances," Post-Print hal-02312341, HAL.
    16. Jean Clarke, 2011. "Revitalizing Entrepreneurship: How Visual Symbols are Used in Entrepreneurial Performances," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 1365-1391, September.
    17. Friederike Welter & Ted Baker & David B. Audretsch & William B. Gartner, 2017. "Everyday Entrepreneurship—A Call for Entrepreneurship Research to Embrace Entrepreneurial Diversity," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(3), pages 311-321, May.
    18. Anne De Bruin & Kate V. Lewis, 2015. "Traversing the Terrain of Context in Social Entrepreneurship," Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 127-136, July.
    19. M. Tina Dacin & Peter A. Dacin & Paul Tracey, 2011. "Social Entrepreneurship: A Critique and Future Directions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1203-1213, October.
    20. Andrew Greenman, 2013. "Everyday entrepreneurial action and cultural embeddedness: an institutional logics perspective," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(7-8), pages 631-653, September.
    21. Steffen Korsgaard & Richard Ferguson & Johan Gaddefors, 2015. "The best of both worlds: how rural entrepreneurs use placial embeddedness and strategic networks to create opportunities," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(9-10), pages 574-598, October.
    22. Kimmo Hyrsky, 1998. "Entrepreneurship: Metaphors And Related Concepts," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 6(04), pages 391-412.
    23. Joep P. Cornelissen & Jean S. Clarke, 2010. "Imagining and rationalizing opportunities : Inductive reasoning and the creation and justification of new ventures," Post-Print hal-02312342, HAL.
    24. Jayawarna, Dilani & Jones, Oswald & Marlow, Susan, 2015. "The influence of gender upon social networks and bootstrapping behaviours," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 316-329.
    25. Jennings, P. Devereaux & Greenwood, Royston & Lounsbury, Michael D. & Suddaby, Roy, 2013. "Institutions, entrepreneurs, and communities: A special issue on entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-9.
    26. Pamela S. Tolbert & Robert J. David & Wesley D. Sine, 2011. "Studying Choice and Change: The Intersection of Institutional Theory and Entrepreneurship Research," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(5), pages 1332-1344, October.
    27. Ted baker & howard E. aldrich & liou nina, 1997. "Invisible entrepreneurs:the neglect of women business owners by mass media and scholarly journals in the USA," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 221-238, January.
    28. Gry Agnete Alsos & Sara Carter & Elisabet Ljunggren, 2014. "Kinship and business: how entrepreneurial households facilitate business growth," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1-2), pages 97-122, April.
    29. Zahra, Shaker A., 2007. "Contextualizing theory building in entrepreneurship research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 443-452, May.
    30. Audretsch, David B. & Lehmann, Erik E., 2016. "The Seven Secrets of Germany: Economic Resilience in an Era of Global Turbulence," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780190258696.
    31. Diana M. Hechavarría & Siri A. Terjesen & Pekka Stenholm & Malin Brännback & Stefan Lång, 2018. "More than Words: Do Gendered Linguistic Structures Widen the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Activity?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(5), pages 797-817, September.
    32. Smallbone, David & Welter, Friederike, 2001. "The Distinctiveness of Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 249-262, June.
    33. Baker, Ted & Welter, Friederike, 2018. "Contextual Entrepreneurship: An Interdisciplinary Perspective," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 14(4), pages 357-426, July.
    34. Malin Malmström & Jeaneth Johansson & Joakim Wincent, 2017. "Gender Stereotypes and Venture Support Decisions: How Governmental Venture Capitalists Socially Construct Entrepreneurs’ Potential," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(5), pages 833-860, September.
    35. Joep P. Cornelissen & Jean S. Clarke, 2010. "Imagining and rationalizing opportunities : Inductive reasoning and the creation and justification of new ventures," Post-Print hal-02276730, HAL.
    36. Alvarez, Sharon A. & Young, Susan L. & Woolley, Jennifer L., 2015. "Opportunities and institutions: A co-creation story of the king crab industry," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 95-112.
    37. Harvey Johnstone & Doug Lionais, 2004. "Depleted communities and community business entrepreneurship: revaluing space through place," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 217-233, May.
    38. Julie Battilana & Bernard Leca & Eva Boxenbaum, 2009. "How actors change institutions : Towards a theory of institutional entrepreneurship," Post-Print hal-00576509, HAL.
    39. Cristina Bettinelli & Alain Fayolle & Kathleen Randerson, 2014. "Family Entrepreneurship : A Developing Field," Post-Print hal-02313307, HAL.
    40. McKeever, Edward & Jack, Sarah & Anderson, Alistair, 2015. "Embedded entrepreneurship in the creative re-construction of place," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 50-65.
    41. Anderson, Alistair R. & Dodd, Sarah Drakopoulou & Jack, Sarah, 2010. "Network practices and entrepreneurial growth," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 121-133, June.
    42. Barbara Bird & Candida Brush, 2002. "A Gendered Perspective on Organizational Creation," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 26(3), pages 41-65, April.
    43. Garry D. Bruton & Shaker A. Zahra & Li Cai, 2018. "Examining Entrepreneurship Through Indigenous Lenses," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(3), pages 351-361, May.
    44. Bettinelli, Cristina & Fayolle, Alain & Randerson, Kathleen, 2014. "Family Entrepreneurship: A Developing Field," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 10(3), pages 161-236, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Stam, Erik & Welter, Friederike, 2020. "Geographical contexts of entrepreneurship: Spaces, places and entrepreneurial agency," Working Papers 04/20, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    2. Welter, Friederike, 2020. "Contexts and gender: Looking back and thinking forward," Working Papers 01/20, Institut für Mittelstandsforschung (IfM) Bonn.
    3. Friederike Welter, 2011. "Contextualizing Entrepreneurship—Conceptual Challenges and Ways Forward," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(1), pages 165-184, January.
    4. Jing Su & Qinghua Zhai & Tomas Karlsson, 2017. "Beyond Red Tape and Fools: Institutional Theory in Entrepreneurship Research, 1992–2014," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(4), pages 505-531, July.
    5. Gina Santos & Carla Susana Marques & João Ferreira, 2021. "The Influence of Embeddedness on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy: A Gender Perspective in the Agri-Food Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-29, August.
    6. Alterskye, Alex & Fuller, Ted & Caputo, Andrea, 2023. "Field dynamics as context – A multi-perspective combined analysis of the effects of context on entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    7. Babita Bhatt & Israr Qureshi & Suhaib Riaz, 2019. "Social Entrepreneurship in Non-munificent Institutional Environments and Implications for Institutional Work: Insights from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 605-630, February.
    8. Randerson, Kathleen & Bettinelli, Cristina & Fayolle, Alain & Anderson, Alistair, 2015. "Family entrepreneurship as a field of research: Exploring its contours and contents," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 143-154.
    9. McKeever, Edward & Jack, Sarah & Anderson, Alistair, 2015. "Embedded entrepreneurship in the creative re-construction of place," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 50-65.
    10. Mitchell, J. Robert & Israelsen, Trevor L. & Mitchell, Ronald K. & Lim, Dominic S.K., 2021. "Stakeholder identification as entrepreneurial action: The social process of stakeholder enrollment in new venture emergence," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(6).
    11. Feng Xu & Xiaogang He & Xueru Yang, 2021. "A Multilevel Approach Linking Entrepreneurial Contexts to Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Rural Chinese Entrepreneurs," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1537-1561, April.
    12. Indu Khurana & Dev K. Dutta, 2024. "From place to space: the emergence and evolution of sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems in smart cities," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 541-569, February.
    13. Yuliya Snihur & Llewellyn D. W. Thomas & Raghu Garud & Nelson Phillips, 2022. "Entrepreneurial Framing: A Literature Review and Future Research Directions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(3), pages 578-606, May.
    14. Sarah Fitz-Koch & Mattias Nordqvist & Sara Carter & Erik Hunter, 2018. "Entrepreneurship in the Agricultural Sector: A Literature Review and Future Research Opportunities," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(1), pages 129-166, January.
    15. Friederike Welter & Ted Baker, 2021. "Moving Contexts Onto New Roads: Clues From Other Disciplines," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1154-1175, September.
    16. Luca Farè & David B. Audretsch & Marcus Dejardin, 2023. "Does democracy foster entrepreneurship?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1461-1495, December.
    17. Benson, David F. & Brau, James C. & Cicon, James & Ferris, Stephen P., 2015. "Strategically camouflaged corporate governance in IPOs: Entrepreneurial masking and impression management," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 839-864.
    18. van Werven, Ruben & Bouwmeester, Onno & Cornelissen, Joep P., 2015. "The power of arguments: How entrepreneurs convince stakeholders of the legitimate distinctiveness of their ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 616-631.
    19. Zhao, Eric Yanfei & Lounsbury, Michael, 2016. "An institutional logics approach to social entrepreneurship: Market logic, religious diversity, and resource acquisition by microfinance organizations," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 643-662.
    20. Marta Widz & Nadine Kammerlander, 2023. "Entrepreneurial exit intentions in emerging economies: a neoinstitutional perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 615-638, February.

    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:52:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s11187-018-0094-5. 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.