Although events such as the global financial crisis, natural disasters, or the COVID-19 pandemic have large impacts on entrepreneurship, the literature lacks a differentiated analysis of such events. This editorial highlights the importance of events which are discrete and bounded in space and time, unexpected, and strong enough to produce change that can lead to subsequent events. An event based approach is well suited to integrate context and time to predict entrepreneurial activity. We provide a more systematic description of events, their characteristics, and causal mechanisms to allow more holistic and generalizable analysis of the role of events in entrepreneurship.
AldrichF. H. (2015). Perpetually on the eve of destruction? Understanding exits in capitalist societies at multiple levels of analysis. In DeTienneD.WennbergK (Eds), Research Handbook of Entrepreneurial Exit (pp. 11–42): Edward Elgar Publishing.
2.
AllportF. H. (1954). The structuring of events: Outline of a general theory with applications to psychology. Psychological Review, 61(5), 281–303. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0062678
3.
AlvarezS. A.BarneyJ. B. (2005). How do entrepreneurs organize firms under conditions of uncertainty?Journal of Management, 31(5), 776–793. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206305279486
4.
AndaR.FelittiV.FelittiV. J.EdwardsV. J.WhitfieldC. L.DubeS. R.WilliamsonD. F (2004). Childhood abuse, household dysfunction, and indicators of impaired adult worker performance. The Permanente Journal, 8(1), 30–38. https://doi.org/10.7812/tpp/03-089
5.
Awaworyi ChurchillS.MunyanyiM. E.SmythR.TrinhT.-A. (2021). Early life shocks and entrepreneurship: Evidence from the Vietnam war. Journal of Business Research, 124(2), 506–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.11.009
6.
AxinnW. G.PearceL. D.GhimireD. (1999). Innovations in life history calendar applications. Social Science Research, 28(3), 243–264. https://doi.org/10.1006/ssre.1998.0641
7.
BaronR. A. (2003). Cognitive foundations of opportunity recognition: Identifying the opportunity prototypes of repeat entrepreneurs. Presented at (pp. 4–7): Babson College-Kaufman Foundation Research ConferenceJune.
8.
BaronR. A. (2006). Opportunity recognition as pattern recognition: How entrepreneurs “connect the dots” to identify new business opportunities. Academy of Management Perspectives, 20(1), 104–119. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2006.19873412
9.
BaronR. A.EnsleyM. D. (2006). Opportunity recognition as the detection of meaningful patterns: Evidence from comparisons of novice and experienced entrepreneurs. Management Science, 52(9), 1331–1344. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1060.0538
10.
BaronR. A.FranklinR. J.HmieleskiK. M. (2016). Why entrepreneurs often experience low, not high, levels of stress. Journal of Management, 42(3), 742–768. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206313495411
11.
BechkyB. A.OkhuysenG. A. (2011). Expecting the unexpected? How SWAT officers and film crews handle surprises. Academy of Management Journal, 54(2), 239–261. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2011.60263060
12.
BennettD. L.NikolaevB. (2021). Historical disease prevalence, cultural values, and global innovation. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 45(1), 145–174. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258720914506
13.
BishopP. (2019). Knowledge diversity and entrepreneurship following an economic crisis: an empirical study of regional resilience in great Britain. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 31(5–6), 496–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2018.1541595
14.
BradleyS. W. (2015). Environmental jolts. In CooperC.L.MorrisM. H.KuratkoD. F. (Eds), Environmental Jolts (pp. 1–3). Wiley Encyclopedia of Management.
15.
BrückT.LlussáF.TavaresJ. A. (2011). Entrepreneurship: The role of extreme events. European Journal of Political Economy, 27(S1), S78–S88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2011.08.002
16.
BulloughA.RenkoM.MyattT. (2014). Danger zone entrepreneurs: The importance of resilience and self-efficacy for entrepreneurial intentions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 38(3), 473–499. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12006
17.
BygraveW. D. (2006). The entrepreneurship paradigm (I) revisited. In NeergaardH.UlhoiJ. P. (Eds), Handbook of qualitative research methods in entrepreneurship. Edward Elgar Publishing.
18.
CaoX.ImJ. (2018). Founder human capital and new technology venture R&D search intensity: The moderating role of an environmental jolt. Small Business Economics, 50(3), 625–642. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-017-9911-5
19.
CarterN. M.GartnerW. B.ReynoldsP. D. (1996). Exploring start-up event sequences. Journal of Business Venturing, 11(3), 151–166.
20.
ChellE.PittawayL. (1998). A study of entrepreneurship in the restaurant and café industry: Exploratory work using the critical incident technique as a methodology. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 17(1), 23–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-4319(98)00006-1
21.
ChengZ.GuoW.HaywardM.SmythR.WangH. (2021). Childhood adversity and the propensity for entrepreneurship: A quasi-experimental study of the great Chinese Famine. Journal of Business Venturing, 36(1), 106063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2020.106063
22.
DavidssonP. (2020). Guidepost: Look out! See change? Sea change ahead!Academy of Management Discoveries, 6(3), 321–324. https://doi.org/10.5465/amd.2019.0141
23.
DavidssonP.GordonS. R. (2016). Much ado about nothing? The surprising persistence of nascent entrepreneurs through macroeconomic crisis. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 40(4), 915–941. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12152
24.
DavidssonP.GruenhagenJ. H. (2021). Fulfilling the process promise: A review and agenda for new venture creation process research. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 0(0), 104225872093099. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258720930991
25.
DavidssonP.ReckerJ.von BrielF. (2020). External enablement of new venture creation: A framework. Academy of Management Perspectives, 34(3), 311–332. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2017.0163
26.
DenckerJ. C.BacqS.GruberM.HaasM. (2021). Reconceptualizing necessity entrepreneurship: A contextualized framework of entrepreneurial processes under the condition of basic needs. Academy of Management Review, 46(1), 60–79. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2017.0471
27.
DoernR.WilliamsN.VorleyT. (2019). Special issue on entrepreneurship and crises: Business as usual? An introduction and review of the literature. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 31(5–6), 400–412. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2018.1541590
28.
DuttaS. (2017). Creating in the crucibles of nature's fury: Associational diversity and local social entrepreneurship after natural disasters in California, 1991-2010. Administrative Science Quarterly, 62(3), 443–483. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839216668172
EganV.TosanguanP. (2009). Coping strategies of entrepreneurs in economic recession: A comparative analysis of Thais and European expatriates in Pattaya, Thailand. Journal of Asia Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, 4(1), 17-36. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/13998.
31.
EliassonG.EliassonÅ. (2006). The Pharmacia story of entrepreneurship and as a creative technical university - an experiment in innovation, organizational break up and industrial renaissance. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 18(5), 393–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985620600831488
32.
FritschM.SorgnerA.WyrwichM.ZazdravnykhE. (2019). Historical shocks and persistence of economic activity: Evidence on self-employment from a unique natural experiment. Regional Studies, 53(6), 790–802. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2018.1492112
33.
GatalskyP.AndrienkoN.AndrienkoG. (2004). Interactive analysis of event data using space-time cube. Proceedings. Eighth International Conference on Information Visualisation, London, UK, 16July 2004.
34.
GersickC. J. G. (1994). Pacing strategic change: The case of a new venture. Academy of Management Journal, 37(1), 9–45. https://doi.org/10.5465/256768
35.
GreenwoodR.SuddabyR. (2006). Institutional entrepreneurship in mature fields: The big five accounting firms. Academy of Management Journal, 49(1), 27–48. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2006.20785498
36.
GrégoireD. A.BinderJ. K.RauchA. (2019). Navigating the validity tradeoffs of entrepreneurship research experiments: A systematic review and best-practice suggestions. Journal of Business Venturing, 34(2), 284–310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.10.002
37.
GriffinL. J. (1992). Temporality, events, and explanation in historical sociology. Sociological Methods & Research, 20(4), 403–427. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124192020004001
38.
GrubeL. E.StorrV. H. (2018). Embedded entrepreneurs and post-disaster community recovery. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 30(7–8), 800–821. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2018.1457084
39.
HallC. M. (2006). Urban entrepreneurship, corporate interests and sports mega-events: The thin policies of competitiveness within the hard outcomes of neoliberalism. The Sociological Review, 54(2 suppl), 59–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2006.00653.x
40.
HannahS. T.Uhl-BienM.AvolioB. J.CavarrettaF. L. (2009). A framework for examining leadership in extreme contexts. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(6), 897–919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.09.006
41.
HannanM. T.FreemanJ. (1977). The population ecology of organizations. American Journal of Sociology, 82(5), 929–964. https://doi.org/10.1086/226424
42.
HaydukT. (2019). Leveraging sport mega events for international entrepreneurship. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 15(3), 857–881. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-019-00573-w
HertzS. (1999). Domino effects in international networks. Journal of Business-To-Business Marketing, 5(3), 3–31. https://doi.org/10.1300/J033v05n03_02
45.
HoffmanE. L.LordR. G. (2013). A taxonomy of event-level dimensions: implications for understanding leadership processes, behavior, and performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(4), 558–571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.03.009.
46.
HughesT. P. (1979). The electrification of America: The system builders. Technology and Culture, 20(1), 124–161. https://doi.org/10.2307/3103115
47.
HulsinkW.RauchA. (2021). About the lives and times of extraordinary entrepreneurs: The methodological contribution of autobiographies to the life course theory of entrepreneurship. Journal of Small Business Management, 59, 913–945. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472778.2020.1865538
48.
JahanshahiA. A.RauchA.GholamiH. (2019). Too dangerous to be an entrepreneur -warzone entrepreneurs’ exit intention. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2019(1), 13477. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2019.13477abstract.
49.
JenkinsA. S.WiklundJ.BrundinE. (2014). Individual responses to firm failure: Appraisals, grief, and the influence of prior failure experience. Journal of Business Venturing, 29(1), 17–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2012.10.006
50.
KahnemanD.KruegerA. B.SchkadeD. A.SchwarzN.StoneA. A. (2004). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The day reconstruction method. Science, 306(5702), 1776–1780. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1103572
51.
KatzD.KahnR. L. (1978). The social psychology of organizations. Wiley.
52.
KimjeonJ.DavidssonP. (2021). External enablers of entrepreneurship: A review and agenda for accumulation of strategically actionable knowledge. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 104225872110106. in press. https://doi.org/10.1177/10422587211010673
53.
KirznerI. M. (1997). Entrepreneurial discovery and the competitive market process: An Austrian approach. Journal of Economic Literature, 35(1), 60–85.
54.
LahtiT.HalkoM.-L.KaragozogluN.WincentJ. (2019). Why and how do founding entrepreneurs bond with their ventures? Neural correlates of entrepreneurial and parental bonding. Journal of Business Venturing, 34(2), 368–388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2018.05.001
55.
LaiY.SaridakisG.BlackburnR.JohnstoneS. (2016). Are the HR responses of small firms different from large firms in times of recession?Journal of Business Venturing, 31(1), 113–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2015.04.005
56.
LechatT.TorrèsO. (2017). Stressors and satisfactors in entrepreneurial activity: An event-based, mixed methods study predicting small business owners' health. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 32(4), 537–569. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijesb.2017.087838
57.
LévesqueM.SchadeC. (2005). Intuitive optimizing: Experimental findings on time allocation decisions with newly formed ventures. Journal of Business Venturing, 20(3), 313–342. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2004.01.005.
58.
LévesqueM.StephanU. (2020). It”s time we talk about time in entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 44(2), 163–184. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258719839711
59.
LippmannS.AldrichH. E. (2016). A rolling stone gathers momentum: Generational units, collective memory, and entrepreneurship. Academy of Management Review, 41(4), 658–675. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2014.0139
60.
MakridakisS.TalebN. (2009). Decision making and planning under low levels of predictability. International Journal of Forecasting, 25(4), 716–733. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijforecast.2009.05.013
61.
McKelvieA.HaynieJ. M.GustavssonV. (2011). Unpacking the uncertainty construct: Implications for entrepreneurial action. Journal of Business Venturing, 26(3), 273–292. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2009.10.004
62.
McMullenJ. S.ShepherdD. A. (2006). Entrepreneurial action and the role of uncertainty in the theory of the entrepreneur. Academy of Management Review, 31(1), 132–152. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2006.19379628
63.
MillikenF. J. (1987). Three types of perceived uncertainty about the environment: State, effect, and response uncertainty. Academy of Management Review, 12(1), 133–143.
64.
MithaniM. A. (2020). Adaptation in the face of the new normal. Academy of Management Perspectives, 34(4), 508–530. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2019.0054
65.
MooreC. F. (1986). Understanding entrepreneurial behavior: A definition and model. Academy of Management Proceedings, 1986(1), 66–70. https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.1986.4978712
66.
MorgesonF. P.DeRueD. S. (2006). Event criticality, urgency, and duration: Understanding how events disrupt teams and influence team leader intervention. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(3), 271–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.02.006.
67.
MorgesonF. P.MitchellT. R.LiuD. (2015). Event system theory: An event-oriented approach to the organizational sciences. Academy of Management Review, 40(4), 515–537. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2012.0099
68.
MorozP. W.HindleK. (2012). Entrepreneurship as a process: Toward harmonizing multiple perspectives. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 36(4), 781–818. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2011.00452.x
69.
PetersonM. F. (1998). Embedded organizational events: The units of process in organization science. Organization Science, 9(1), 16–33. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.9.1.16
70.
PettigrewA. M. (1990). Longitudinal field research on change: Theory and practice. Organization Science, 1(3), 267–292. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2635006
71.
PierreB.PhilipL. P. (2011). The psychology of events. In The routledge handbook of events. Routledge.
72.
RauchA.FinkM.HatakI. (2018). Stress processes: An essential ingredient in the entrepreneurial process. Academy of Management Perspectives, 32(3), 340–357. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2016.0184
73.
RauchA.FreseM. (2007). Let’s put the person back into entrepreneurship research: A meta-analysis on the relationship between business owners' personality traits, business creation, and success. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 16(4), 353–385. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594320701595438
74.
RosenbuschN.RauchA.BauschA. (2013). The mediating role of entrepreneurial orientation in the task environment-performance relationship. Journal of Management, 39(3), 633–659. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311425612
75.
RunyanR. C. (2006). Small business in the face of crisis: Identifying barriers to recovery from a natural Disaster1. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 14(1), 12–26. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2006.00477.x.
76.
SarasvathyS. D.VenkataramanS. (2011). Entrepreneurship as method: Open questions for an entrepreneurial future. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35(1), 113–135. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00425.x
77.
SchindehutteM. (Ed), (2015). Time and entrepreneurship: Wirley.
78.
SchumpeterJ.A. (1934). The theory of economic development: Harvard University Press.
79.
ShaneS.DroverW.ClingingsmithD.CerfM. (2020). Founder passion, neural engagement and informal investor interest in startup pitches: An fMRI study. Journal of Business Venturing, 35(4), 105949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2019.105949
80.
ShaneS.VenkataramanS. (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 217–226. https://doi.org/10.2307/259271
81.
ShaperoA. (1982). Social dimensions of entrepreneurship. In KentC. (Ed), The Encyclopedia of entrepreneurship (pp. 72–90): Prentice-Hall.
82.
ShepherdD. A.WennbergK.SuddabyR.WiklundJ. (2019). What are we explaining? A review and agenda on initiating, engaging, performing, and contextualizing entrepreneurship. Journal of Management, 45(1), 159–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318799443
83.
ShepherdD. A.WolfeM. T. (2015). Entrepreneurial grief. Wiley Encyclopedia of ManagementJohn Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
84.
SpigelB.VinodraiT. (2020). Meeting its Waterloo? Recycling in entrepreneurial ecosystems after anchor firm collapse. Meeting its Waterloo? Recycling in entrepreneurial ecosystems after anchor firm collapse (pp. 1–22). Entrepreneurship & Regional Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2020.1734262
85.
SpillanJ.HoughM. (2003). Crisis planning in small businesses: importance, impetus and indifference. European Management Journal, 21(3), 398–407. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-2373(03)00046-X
86.
SpillingO. R. (1996). The entrepreneurial system: on entrepreneurship in the context of a mega-event. Journal of Business Research, 36(1), 91–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/0148-2963(95)00166-2
87.
TalebN. N. (2007). The Black swan: The impact of the highly improbable. Random House.
UyM. A.FooM.-D.AguinisH. (2010). Using experience sampling methodology to advance entrepreneurship theory and research. Organizational Research Methods, 13(1), 31–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428109334977
Van de VenA. H.EnglemanR. M. (2004). Event- and outcome-driven explanations of entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing, 19(3), 343–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-9026(03)00035-1.
92.
Van de VenA. H.PooleM. S. (1995). Explaining development and change in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 510–540. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.1995.9508080329
93.
WelterF. (2011). Contextualizing entrepreneurship-conceptual challenges and ways forward. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35(1), 165–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00427.x
94.
WelterF.BakerT.WirschingK. (2019). Three waves and counting: the rising tide of contextualization in entrepreneurship research. Small Business Economics, 52(2), 319–330. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-018-0094-5
95.
WiklundJ.DavidssonP.AudretschD. B.KarlssonC. (2011). The future of entrepreneurship research. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2010.00420.x
96.
WilliamsT. A.ShepherdD. A. (2016a). Building resilience or providing sustenance: different paths of emergent ventures in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. Academy of Management Journal, 59(6), 2069–2102. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2015.0682
97.
WilliamsT. A.ShepherdD. A. (2016b). Victim entrepreneurs doing well by doing good: Venture creation and well-being in the aftermath of a resource shock. Journal of Business Venturing, 31(4), 365–387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2016.04.002
98.
WoodM. S.BakkerR. M.FisherG. (2021). Back to the future: A time-calibrated theory of entrepreneurial action. Academy of Management Review, 46(1), 147–171. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2018.0060
ZahraS. A.WrightM.AbdelgawadS. G. (2014). Contextualization and the advancement of entrepreneurship research. International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 32(5), 479–500. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242613519807
101.
ZhangS. X.CuetoJ. (2017). The study of bias in entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41(3), 419–454. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12212
