Guest Editors:
David B. Audretsch, Indiana University Bloomington, USA
Rosa Caiazza, Parthenope University of Naples, Italy
Maksim Belitski, Henley Business School, United Kingdom
Christina Günther, WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management, Germany
Background and Focus of the Special Issue:
The entrepreneurship and innovation literature has recently the role of latent and emergent entrepreneurship in bringing innovations to the market (Caiazza et al., 2015 Audretsch et al. 2017; Neffke et al. 2018). As the connection between entrepreneurship and innovation is a stylized fact, regional entrepreneurship and innovation policies are becoming more selective by targeting more innovative types of entrepreneurship rather than supporting total entrepreneurship activity. This development is evident by the number of regional enterprise and innovation policies for which have been issued worldwide to sustain the creation and the growth of most innovative types of entrepreneurs. These heterogeneous policies target innovation drivers and shaping local systems of innovation, which offers the opportunity of some reflections, appraisal refinements of the very nature of latent and emergent entrepreneurship related to policy. Although local and national governments have declared their support to the latent and emergent entrepreneurship they still aim to the greater extent promoting the total entrepreneurship activity (Lerner, 2010). Empirical evidence has demonstrated that the results of such policies have not been successful (Colombelli et al., 2016). It is possible that there is sometimes a divergence between regional and national strategies in supporting most innovative entrepreneurs.
The special issue will broaden the theoretical foundations and empirical evidence on approaching the emergent and latent entrepreneurship, by considering the effect within the following three areas: of innovation for latent and emergent entrepreneurs; managerial models for innovation and entrepreneurship; regional entrepreneurship and innovation systems.
The aim of this special issue is to publish original multi-disciplinary research that will contribute significantly to a refinement of the theory of latent and emergent entrepreneurship. Submissions will not only find the linkages between entrepreneurial social, geographical, cognitive and institutional contexts (Autio et al. 2014) and launching new firms, but explain why this happens.
Research on the latent and emergent entrepreneurship has recently prompted the following investigations: local drivers of innovation (Balland et al. 2015) and entrepreneurship culture (Stutzer et al. 2014); dynamic capabilities and resources used by latent and emergent entrepreneurs (Caiazza et al., 2015); Schumpeterian and Kirznerian perspectives to entrepreneurial cognition and opportunities (Schumpeter, 1934, Kirzner, 1999); entrepreneurial ecosystems (Stam, 2015; Spigel, 2017; Audretsch and Belitski, 2017); the university context (Caiazza et al. 2014), location choices of graduate entrepreneurs (Larsson et al. 2017); entrepreneurial orientation and business performance (Wiklund and Shepherd, 2005); commercialization patterns (Clarysse et al., 2014); use of digital technologies in small and medium-size firms and by latent entrepreneurs (Li et al. 2016; Sussan and Acs, 2017) and many other (Rauch et al. 2009; Frese et al. 2014).
Therefore, research in this domain has the potential for a twofold contribution. First, it can enhance the conceptual development of the latent and emergent entrepreneurship process in general, also by appraising the heterogeneity that characterizes such individuals and firms. Second, it can avoid the design of entrepreneurship policies (Shane, 2009), which targets total entrepreneurial activity, rather than Schumpeterian type latent and emergent entrepreneurs.
- Possible topics include, though not limited to How can business performance (survival, re-entry, job creation, growth, product and process innovation) be conceptualized to take into account the very nature and heterogeneity of latent and emergent entrepreneurs?
- Would traditional performance indicators used to explain latent and emergent entrepreneurs and their drivers across geographical, institutional, technology, social and cognitive contexts (still) hold?
- What are the mechanisms and processes that explain the contextual (e.g., social, spatial, institutional, technology, regional) influences on latent and emergent entrepreneurs entry, growth and possible exit?
- What the role of latent and emergent entrepreneurship in change and competitiveness of economy?
- What is the interplay between individual-, firm-, industry- or regional-level factors to explain latent and emergent their dynamics?
- How dynamic capabilities and new digital tools may facilitate latent and emergent entrepreneurs?
- How are factors (i.e., values, normative and cognitive bases) of latent and emergent entrepreneurship affected by local innovation and types of entrepreneurial ecosystems?
- Do latent and emergent entrepreneurs have different models of innovation and entrepreneurship across different industries and types of the entrepreneurial ecosystems?
- To what extent is the process and success of latent and emergent entrepreneurs embedded in founders' background, team dynamics, as well as in the social and institutional context (e.g., family, university, community, business accelerators, regional ecosystem)?
- How can public policy benefit from a better understanding of the heterogeneity among Schumpeterian and Kirznerian types of latent and emergent entrepreneurship and its context?
The deadline for submission of papers is 31 March 2019; the journal submission site will be open for submissions from 15 February 2019. The Special Issue is scheduled to be published in Autumn 2020. Papers must be original and comply with ISBJ submission guidelines. Please refer http://isb.sagepub.com/ for submission guidelines and a link to the submission system. In the online system please ensure you submit your paper within Manuscript Type: 'Special Issue: From latent to emergent entrepreneurship'.
Questions and informal should be directed to:
Professor Rosa Caiazza: rosa.caiazza@uniparthenope.it