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Special Issue

Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice

Affiliated Conference at Northeastern University, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Boston</st1:city></st1:place>

International Entrepreneurship:  Do Institutions Matter?

A common theoretical lens used in international entrepreneurship research is institutional theory.  However, too often researchers default to institutional explanations when they find differences internationally from the existing research on <st1:place w:st="on">North America</st1:place> without a clear rationale as to whether the result is actually due to institutional differences.  In addition, the institutions cited as the cause of the outcome typically are those associated with culture.  But it is not clear if this is just an easy answer to what are in fact very complex issues, or an accurate reflection of international entrepreneurship. 

If international entrepreneurship research is to move forward, a better understanding and foundation for this research must be developed and elaborated.  This special issue will help build that foundation as the role of institutions and their impact in entrepreneurship is explored. 

The special issue encourages the examination of a rich set of issues associated with institutional theory.  For example, the most commonly used model by researchers is Scott's (2001) formulation of institutional theory.  However, some applications of this model even in leading journals are somewhat unusual.  In addition, in sociology this model is somewhat controversial.  Other, slightly different, formulations exist in economics (e.g. North, 1990, 2005) and political science (Patriotta & Lanzara, 2006).  Therefore, the special issue encourages the use and integration of different institutional views. In addition, the special issue encourages researchers to focus on a richer set of institutions than culture. For example, very little research has examined the role of legal institutions in entrepreneurship research. 

The special issue also encourages researchers to methodologically examine institutional theory in a better manner.  Too often researchers have indicated that there is an institutional impact based on single country studies.  The special issue is particularly encouraging research which seeks to understand international entrepreneurship and apply institutional theory through studies of multiple nations. 

This special issue will also encourage authors to examine the role of institutions in developed economies like those of the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Canada</st1:country-region>, and <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>.  It is surprising, but rarely has previous research examined the impact of institutions in shaping entrepreneurial actions in developed economies. If institutions have the explanatory power indicated, it would imply that researchers in these developed economies should be including institutions in their research just as if they were examining a topic in <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region> or <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>.

The topics that articles could address include but are not limited to:

• Is there evidence of institutional theory impact across different countries?

• Typically, institutions are not assumed by researchers to impact entrepreneurship in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region> or <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>; at least they seldom control for such an impact.  Is this an appropriate assumption as we add more global emphasis to our research?

• How do different institutions impact entrepreneurial actions?  Prior research has focused on the impact of culture but there is some evidence of the impact of other institutions.  What is the impact of these institutions?  How can researchers segment out that impact?

• How do we define institutional theory?  The most widely used classification is the one developed by Scott, but this classification is not without controversy.  What is the impact of these different views of institutional theory?

• How do related disciplines, such as economics, sociology, and political science, employ institutional theory and what can we learn from them that could be applied in international entrepreneurship research?

This special issue will go forward without any preconceived notion of answers to these questions.  Thus, it is expected that articles from different perspectives including opposing views will emerge.  Authors of empirically based articles will be encouraged to have data from multiple nations to support their arguments. 

Authors who receive an opportunity to revise and resubmit will in turn be invited to a special conference at <st1:placename w:st="on">Northeastern</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Boston</st1:city></st1:place> to be held <st1:date month="10" day="9" year="2008" w:st="on">October 9-10, 2008</st1:date> at which they will have the opportunity to present and receive feedback on their papers toward possible publication in the special issue in early 2010.  The conference will feature leading scholars including Richard Scott, Max Boisot, Duane <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Ireland</st1:country-region></st1:place>, and Mike Peng.  Manuscripts should be submitted in ET&P format to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/etp by <st1:date month="5" day="15" year="2008" w:st="on">May 15, 2008</st1:date>.  Authors must specify that the submission is for the special issue on International Entrepreneurship.

If questions contact:

Special Issue Editors

David Ahlstrom – <st1:placename w:st="on">Chinese</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype>  <st1:place w:st="on">Hong Kong</st1:place> - ahlstrom@baf.msmail.cuhk.edu.hk

Garry D. Bruton – <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Texas</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Christian</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">University</st1:placename></st1:place>   - g.bruton@tcu.edu

Hanlin Li - <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">National Chiao Tung University</st1:city> <st1:country-region w:st="on">Taiwan</st1:country-region></st1:place> - hlli@cc.nctu.edu.tw

Conference Coordinators

Sheila Puffer – <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Northeastern</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place> -  s.puffer@neu.edu

Dan McCarthy – <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Northeastern</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>  - da.mccarthy@neu.edu

Sponsored by:

<st1:placename w:st="on">Chinese</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of Hong Kong, Northeastern University, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Texas</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Christian</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">University</st1:placename></st1:place>

Garry D. Bruton, PhD