The phenomenon of entrepreneurship to date has lacked a conceptual framework that explains and predicts a set of phenomena not explained or predicted by conceptual frameworks already in existence in other fields.

1. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
THE PROMISE OF
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS
A FIELD OF RESEARCH
SCOTT SHANE AND S. VENKATARAMAN

2. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
THE GAP
The phenomenon of entrepreneurship
to date has lacked a conceptual
framework that explains and predicts
a set of phenomena not explained or
predicted by conceptual frameworks
already in existence in other fields.

3. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
EXAMPLES OF PRIOR FIELDS OF STUDY
1. Personality of the Entrepreneur
(Venkataraman, 1997)
2. Relative Performance of Company or
Individuals (Strategic Management).
(Venkataraman, 1997)

4. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY
• Define the study of entrepreneurship
• Explain why studying it is important to organizational researchers
• Decide why entrepreneurial opportunities exist and why some
individuals – but not others – discover and exploit them
• Consider different modalities of entrepreneurial exploitation
• Reflect on the value of the proposed framework

5. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
FIELD OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEFINED
The scholarly examination of…
How, by whom, and with what effects opportunities
to create future goods and services are discovered,
evaluated, and exploited. (Venkataraman, 1997)

6. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
AREAS OF SCHOLARLY CONCERNS
1. Why, when, and how opportunities for the
creation of goods and services come into
existence
2. Why, when, and how some people and not
others discover and explore these opportunities
3. When, where, and how different modes of
action are used to exploit entrepreneurial
opportunities
?
?
?
??

7. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
DISEQUILIBRIUM MODEL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
2. 20% (Reynolds & White, 1997) to 50% (Aldrich & Zimmer, 1986)
of the population are estimated to engage in the
“transitory process” of entrepreneurism which
suggests that it is not a stable characteristic, but
a situational cue for opportunity to which some
people respond.
* (Kihlstrom & Laffont, 1979) and (McClelland, 1961)
1. Entrepreneurial behavior is transitory (Carroll & Mosakowski,
1987)
*

8. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
DISEQUILIBRIUM MODEL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
(CON’T)
3. Entrepreneurship can occur inside an existing
organization. (Amit, Glosten and Mueller, 1993; Casson, 1982)
4. Firm creation is only one aspect of entrepreneurism.
(Aldrich, (Aldrich, 1990; Singh & Lumsdon, 1990; Caves, 1998; Geroski, 1995;
Gartner, 1985; Katz & Gartner, 1988; Low & MacMillan 1988; Stinchcombe, 1965)
5. Focus in this study is not on the process of firm
creation, but on the conditions for firm creation.

9. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
WHY STUDY ENTREPRENEURSHIP
1. Technical information is embodied in products and services
(Arrow, 1962) and entrepreneurship is a mechanism by which
society connects technical information to these products
and services.
2. Entrepreneurship is a mechanism through which temporal
and spatial inefficiencies in an economy are discouraged and
mitigated (Kirzner, 1997).

10. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
WHY STUDY ENTREPRENEURSHIP (CON’T)
3. Of the different sources of change in our capitalist
economy, entrepreneurial innovation is the crucial engine
driving the change process (Schumpeter, 1934).
We are incomplete without it.

11. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
DISCOVERY OF ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES
Why do some people “discover” and others do not?
1. Information Corridors:
Prior Knowledge + New Information =
Entrepreneurial Conjecture (Kaish & Gilad,
1987).
2. Cognitive Properties:
+ Opportunities in situations
+ Life circumstances
+ Risk tolerance

12. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
EXISTENCE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES
1. Entrepreneurial opportunities require the discovery of new means-ends
relationships, whereas other opportunities only require the optimization
of existing means-ends relationships (Kirzner, 1997)
2. Drucker’s “Product Market Entrepreneurship Opportunities (1985):
• Creation of new information, as occurs with the invention of new technologies
• Exploitation of market inefficiencies that result from information inefficiency
• Reaction to shifts in the relative costs and benefits of alternative uses for
resources

13. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
EXISTENCE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES
(CON’T)
3. Dichotomy – For an entrepreneurial
opportunity to exist, the entrepreneur and a
resource owner must have differing opinions
about the value, existence, pricing, or form of
an opportunity. (Schumpeter, 1934, also Casson, 1982)
Asymmetry – Not all entrepreneurial
opportunities must be obvious to everyone
all of the time. (Hayek, 1945)

14. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
EXISTENCE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES
(CON’T)
4. Why “differing opinions?”
• Participants guess at each other’s expectations. (Kirzner,
1973)
• Economies are in a constant state of disequillibrium
including information asymmetry, permitting the
opportunity for some to transform responses into a
more valuable form. (Schumpeter, 1934)

15. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
DECISION TO EXPLOIT ENTREPRENEURIAL
OPPORTUNITIES
• Discovery is a necessary,
but not sufficient
condition.
• Venkatraman (1997)
concludes it’s a result of
the joint intersection of
the opportunity and
individual.

16. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
DECISION TO EXPLOIT ENTREPRENEURIAL
OPPORTUNITIES
Opportunity
• Higher expected value (Schmookler, 1966)
• Expected demand is large (Schumpeter, 1934)
• Industry profit margins are high (Dunne, Roberts and Samuelson 1989)
• Technology life cycle is young (Utterback, 1994)
• Competition is not too dense (Hannah & Freeman, 1984)
• Cost of capital low (Hannah & Freeman, 1984)
• Population level learning from other entrants is available (Aldrich &
Wiedanmayer, 1993)

17. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
DECISION TO EXPLOIT ENTREPRENEURIAL
OPPORTUNITIES (CON’T)
Individual
• Value of opportunity vs. cost of pursuing it or other benefit (Amit, Muller &
Cockburn, 1995)
• Availability of capital (Evans & Leighton, 1990)
• Stronger social ties to resource providers (Aldrich & Zimmer,1986)
• Prior leaning in previous employment (Cooper, Woo & Dunkelberg, 1989)
• Prior experience (Cooper Et Al, 1989)
• Prior entrepreneurship (Carroll & Mosakowski, 1987)

18. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
DECISION TO EXPLOIT ENTREPRENEURIAL
OPPORTUNITIES (CON’T)
Individual (con’t)
• Perceptions of risk (Khilstrom & Laffont, 1979; Knight, 1921)
• Optimism (Cooper et al, 1988)
• Greater levels of internal efficiency and more locus of control (Greene & Crick,
1998)
• Tolerance of ambiguity (Begley & Boyd, 1987)
• High need for achievement (McClelland, 1961)

19. Laurence (Larry) J. Pino, (Esq.)
GENERAL TAKEAWAYS
• Explosion of entrepreneurial activity since the year 2000 has had a major
impact on the economy
• Entrepreneurial activity is everywhere, although its nature is not
particularly clear.
• Entrepreneurs can be seen throughout the economic spectrum, although
what an entrepreneur is, also appears less clear.
• The study’s framework, although somewhat inchoate, advances the
dialogue on entrepreneurship for further definition, research and
scholarship.