Entrepreneurship: An Integrating Typology and Evaluation of the Empirical Research in the Field

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is one of the newest research fields in management. Most of the empirical research has been completed in the last decade. Other disciplines have made significant contributions to the field. An integrating framework and typology were formulated by Wortman (1986b). Against that framework and typology, this review has examined most of the empirical research in the past decade. Significant shifts in the nature and scope of the field and in research design, methods, and statistics used have occurred. Proposed research studies and questions are primarily in the exploratory stages of the development of a new field. Little of the research has been disseminated to entrepreneurs.