Title: Integrative entrepreneurship research - bridging the gap between sociological and economic perspectives

Authors: Dieter Bögenhold; Matthias Fink; Sascha Kraus

Addresses: Department of Sociology, Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt, Universitätsstrasse 65-67, 9020 Klagenfurt, Austria ' WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Augasse 2-6, 1090 Vienna, Austria ' University of Liechtenstein, Fürst-Franz-Josef-Strasse, LI-9490 Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Abstract: The predominant perspective of entrepreneurship was rooted in the battle of entrepreneurship scholars to establish and legitimate a distinct discipline within the economics research community by delineating it from neighbouring disciplines such as sociology and psychology. As a result, social science aspects have tended to remain ignored; entrepreneurship research has largely lost the view of 'the big picture' that is necessary to understand the complex phenomenon under research. We argue that, in order to earn legitimacy as a research discipline, entrepreneurship research needs to be reintegrated into the broader landscape of social science - the missing links of entrepreneurship research. We therefore investigate which interfaces between sociological and economic perspectives can be identified in the discussion on entrepreneurship research on the basis of a questionnaire survey of 105 entrepreneurship researchers in the German-language realm, thereby providing a necessary base line for an interdisciplinary research program that offers the underpinnings for interdisciplinary research and first steps for a future integrative entrepreneurship research approach.

Keywords: entrepreneurship research; interdisciplinarity; researcher survey; social sciences; economics research; sociology; interdisciplinary research.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEV.2014.062748

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Venturing, 2014 Vol.6 No.2, pp.118 - 139

Received: 06 Feb 2012
Accepted: 20 Apr 2012
Published online: 26 Jul 2014 *

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