Pioneers within the Field

Pioneer Profiles

William B. Gartner

Gartner is considered a pioneer within his field, known for his belief in a behavioral approach and narrative methodology in entrepreneurship research. He was one of the first scholars within the field who advocated a shift from focusing on the individual traits of the entrepreneur, which was common during the 70s and 80s, to studying entrepreneurship as a behavioral process (Landström 2010).

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Patricia P. McDougall-Covin

McDougall is considered a pioneering scholar of entrepreneurship and strategic management and she has made significant contributions to the knowledge of multinational enterprise (Kelly school of business, 2015).

Read more about Patricia P. McDougall-Covin

Arnold C. Cooper

Arnold Cooper made several significant contributions to the overall knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship. He also played a significant part in organizing the research field and he helped the elevation of entrepreneurship research to a higher academic level (Landström, 2010).

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Karl H. Vesper

Vesper is known as a pioneer in the field of entrepreneurship research and education. He has launched several entrepreneurship courses and programs, and he has been involved in organizing some of the first conferences on entrepreneurship in the US (Spears school of business 2015).

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Article Interviews

Here you will find article based interviews with pioneers from the field. The division and committee are working on receiving permissions to publish the PDFs on this page. Currently, we have permissions for four of the articles below. Check back soon for more!

Howard Aldrich

Five decades of evolutionary reasoning in entrepreneurship research – an interview with Professor Howard Aldrich for the journal Revue de l’Entrepreneuriat, by Hans Landström, Revue de l’Entrepreneurial, 2012, 11(1): 73-83.

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William Baumol

William J. Baumol: An entrepreneurial economist on the economics of entrepreneurship, by Gunnar Eliasson and Magnus Henrekson, Small Business Economics, 2004, 23: 1-7.

A dialogue with William J. Baumol: Insights on entrepreneurship theory and education, by Mark Griffiths, Jill Kickul, Sophie Bacq and Siri Terjesen, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2012, July: 611-625.

Sue Birley

Entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Sue Birley reflects on creating and growing wealth, by Mike Wright and commented by Arnold Cooper, European Management Journal, 2001, 19(2): 128-139.

Informal interview: Download PDF

Mark Casson

The Entrepreneur at 30 – Continued Relevance?, an article that examines the research contribution of Mark Casson, based on an interview by the authors: Sharon Alvarez, Andrew Godley and Mike Wright, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 8: 185-194 (2014).

Ronald Coase

Coase on entrepreneurship, by Siri Terjesen and Ning Wang, Small Business Economics, 2013, 40: 173-184.

Arnold Cooper

A model scholar and preeminent contributor to our understanding of strategic entrepreneurship: Arnold C. Cooper (1933-2012), by Timothy B. Folta, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 8: 349-360 (2014).

Kathleen Eisenhardt

Kathleen Eisenhardt: recipient of the 2012 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, by Bo Carlsson, Small Business Economics, 2013, 40: 797-804.

Maryann Feldman

Maryann Feldman: Recipient of the 2013 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, Mark Lorenzen and Bo Carlsson reviews the scientific contributions of Maryann Feldman, Small Business Economics, 43: 1-8 (2014).

William Gartner

Building new roads for entrepreneurship research to travel by: On the work of William B. Gartner, by Daniel Hjorth and Bengt Johannisson, Small Business Economics, 2008, 31: 341-350.

(Re)lectures des opportunités, fragmentation du champ et fondements empiriques de l’entrepreneuriat (in English), by Henrik Berglund, Revue de l’Entrepreneurial, 2011, 10(1): 73-82.

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Bengt Johannisson

Enacting entrepreneurship research in a pioneering, provocative and participative way: On the work of Bengt Johannisson, by Chris Steyaert and Hans Landström, Small Business Economics, 2011, 36: 123-134.

Israel Kirzner

Israel M. Kirzner: An outstanding Austrian contributor to the economics of entrepreneurship, by Robin Douhan, Gunnar Eliasson and Magnus Henrekson, Small Business Economics, 2007, 29: 213-223.

Steven Klepper

Steven Klepper: Recipient of the 2011 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, by Pontus Braunerhjelm and Bo Carlsson, Small Business Economics, 2011, 37: 131-140.

Josh Lerner

Josh Lerner: Recipient of the 2010 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, by Pontus Braunerhjelm and Simon Parker, Small Business Economics, 2010, 35: 245-254.

Ian MacMillan

The academic entrepreneur: a biographical sketch of Ian MacMillan’s contributions to establishing the field of entrepreneurship, by Rita Gunther McGrath, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 9: 188-204 (2015).

Paul Reynolds

Paul D. Reynolds: Entrepreneurship research innovator, coordinator, and disseminator, by Per Davidsson, Small Business Economics, 2005, 24: 351-358.

Saras Sarasvathy

L’effectuation, une approche pragmatique et pragmatiste de l’entrepreneuriat (in English), by Olivier Germain, Revue de l’Entrepreneurial, 2011, 10(3): 67-72.

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Scott Shane

Scott A. Shane: Winner of the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, by Per Davidsson and Johan Wiklund, Small Business Economics, 2009, 33: 131-140.

David Storey

Informal Interview: Download PDF

Shaker Zahra

Shaker A. Zahra: pioneering entrepreneurship scholar, David B. Audretsch analysis of Shaker Zahra’s contributions to the entrepreneurship literature, prepared for the occasion of the presentation of the Global Entrepreneurship Award to Shaker A. Zahra, Small Business Economics, 44, 721-725 (2015).

Shaker A. Zahra: L’entrepreneuriat comme connaissance (in English), by Kathleen Randerson, Revue de l’Entrepreneurial, 2012, 11(2): 53-62.

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Video Interviews

Entrepreneurship History Interview Series - Tim Mescon