Religions are depositories of values. Reviewing literature from the past century, this article argues that there is considerable empirical support for the thesis that religion and related beliefs influence values and thus shape entrepreneurship. This article shows that: (1) various religions value entrepreneurship to different degrees; (2) different religions yield dissimilar patterns of entrepreneurship; (3) specialization along religious lines shapes entrepreneurship; (4) credit networks, employment networks, information networks and supply networks of co-religionists affect entrepreneurship; (5) religions provide opportunities for entrepreneurship; (6) religious beliefs may also hamper entrepreneurial spirit; and (7) religions have built-in mechanisms for the perpetuation of values. Regardless of whether a person is religious, he or she is influenced by the values propagated by religion.
AbdullahA. (1992), ‘The influence of ethnic values on managerial practices in Malaysia’, Malaysian Management Review, Vol 27, No 1, pp 3–18.
2.
AckrillM.HannahL. (2001), Barclay's: The Business of Banking 1690–1996, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
3.
AldrichH. E. (1979), Organizations and Environments, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
4.
AldrichH. E.WeidenmayerG. (1993), ‘From traits to rates: An ecological perspective on organisational foundings’, in KatzJ.BrockhausR. H., eds, Advances in Entrepreneurship, Firm Emergence and Growth, Vol 1, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, pp 145–195.
5.
AltinayL. (2008), ‘The relationship between an entrepreneur's culture and the entrepreneurial behaviour of the firm’, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol 15, No 1, pp 111–129.
6.
AndersonA. R.DoddDrakopoulou S.ScottM. G. (2000), ‘Religion as an environmental influence on enterprise culture: The case of Britain in the 1980s’, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, Vol 6, No 1, pp 5–20.
7.
Aristotle (1924), ‘The politics’ (translated by Jowett, B.), in MonroeA. E., ed, Early Economic Thought, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 3–29.
8.
ArmstrongC.NellesH. V. (1977), The Revenge of the Methodist Bicycle Company: Sunday Streetcars and Municipal Reform in Toronto, 1888–1897, Peter Martin Associates, Toronto.
9.
ArslanM. (2000), ‘A cross-cultural comparison of British and Turkish managers in terms of Protestant work ethic characteristics’, British Ethics: A European Review, Vol 9, No 1, pp 13–19.
10.
BadawiA. A. (2006), ‘Islam and development’, Global Agenda 2006, World Economic Forum, Davos, pp 208–209.
11.
BaldachinoG.DanaL. P. (2006), ‘The impact of public policy on entrepreneurship: A critical investigation of the Protestant ethic on a divided island jurisdiction’, Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Vol 19, No 4, pp 419–430.
12.
BasuA.AltinayE. (2002), ‘The interaction between culture and entrepreneurship in London's immigrant businesses’, International Small Business Journal, Vol 20, No 4, November, pp 371–394.
13.
BaylyC. A. (1983), Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North India in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
14.
BeckerH. (1956), Man in Reciprocity, Praeger, New York.
15.
BoissevainJ.GrotenbregH. (1987), ‘Ethnic enterprise in the Netherlands: The Surinamese of Amsterdam’, in GoffeeR.ScaseR., eds, Entrepreneurship in Asia: The Social Processes, Croom Helm, London, pp 105–130.
16.
BorjasG. J. (1992), ‘Ethnic capital and intergenerational mobility’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol 107, pp 123–150.
17.
BrammerS.WilliamsG.ZinkinJ. (2007), ‘Religion and attitudes to corporate social responsibility in a large crosscountry sample’, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol 71, No 3, pp 229–243.
18.
CandlandC. (2000), ‘Faith as social capital: Religion and community development in southern Asia’, Policy Sciences, Vol 33, No 3–4, December, pp 355–374.
19.
CorleyT. A. B. (1998), ‘Changing Quakers attitudes to wealth, 1690–1950’, in DavidJ. J., ed, Religion, Business and Wealth in Modern Britain, Routledge, London, pp 137–150.
20.
CousinsL. S. (1996), ‘The dating of the historical Buddha: A review article’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol 6, No 1, pp 57–63.
21.
DanaL. P. (1991), ‘Bring in more entrepreneurs’, Policy Options, Vol 12, No 9, pp 18–19.
22.
DanaL. P. (1995a), ‘Entrepreneurship in a remote sub-Arctic community: Nome, Alaska’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol 20, No 1, pp 55–72.
23.
DanaL. P. (1995b), ‘Small business in a non-entrepreneurial society: The case of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos)’, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol 33, No 3, July, pp 95–102.
24.
DanaL. P. (2005), When Economies Change Hands: A Survey of Entrepreneurship in the Emerging Markets of Europe from the Balkans to the Baltic States, International Business Press, Binghamton, NY.
25.
DanaL. P. (2006), ‘A historical study of the traditional livestock merchants of Alsace’, British Food Journal, Vol 108, No 7, July, pp 586–598.
26.
DanaL. P. (2007a), Asian Models of Entrepreneurship – From the Indian Union and the Kingdom of Nepal to the Japanese Archipelago: Context, Policy and Practice, World Scientific, Singapore and London.
27.
DanaL. P. (2007b), ‘Humility-based economic development and entrepreneurship among the Amish’, Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol 1, No 2, pp 142–154.
28.
DanaL. P.DanaT. E. (2007), ‘Collective entrepreneurship in a Mennonite community in Paraguay’, Latin American Business Review, Vol 8, No 4, June, pp 82–96.
29.
DanaL. P.DanaT. E. (2008), ‘Ethnicity & entrepreneurship in Morocco: A photo-ethnographic study’, International Journal of Business and Globalisation, Vol 2, No 3, pp 209–226.
30.
DoddDrakopoulou S.AndersonA. R. (2007), ‘Mumpsimus and the mything of the individualistic entrepreneur’, International Small Business Journal, Vol 25, No 4, pp 341–360.
31.
DoddDrakopoulou S.GotsisG. (2007), ‘The interrelationships between entrepreneurship and religion’, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Vol 8, No 2, pp 93–104.
32.
DundasP. (1992), The Jains, Routledge, New York.
33.
DurkheimE. (1912), Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse: Le système totémique en Australie, F. Alcan, Paris.
34.
EnzC. A.DollingerM. A.DailyC. M. (1990), ‘The value orientations of minority and non-minority small business owners’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol 15, No 1, pp 23–35.
35.
FarmerR. N.RichmanB. M. (1965), Comparative Management and Economic Progress, Richard D. Irwin, Homewood, IL.
36.
FeuerbachL. (1855), The Essence of Christianity (translated by EvansMarian), Calvin Blanchard, New York.
37.
FishbergM. (1911), The Jews: A Study of Race and Environment, Walter Scott, London.
38.
GadgilD. R. (1959), Origins of the Modern Indian Business Class, Institute of Pacific Relations, New York.
39.
GalbraithC. S. (2007), ‘The impact of ethnic–religious identification on buyer–seller behaviour: A study of two enclaves’, International Journal of Business and Globalisation, Vol 1, No 1, pp 20–33.
40.
GalbraithC. S.LatamD. R.GalbraithJ. B. (1997), ‘Entrepreneurship in the Hispanic community of the south-eastern United States’, Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, Babson College, Wellesley, MA.
41.
GalbraithC. S.StilesC. H.Benitez-BertheauJ. (2004), ‘The embryonic development of an ethnic neighbourhood: A longitudinal case study of entrepreneurial activity’, in StilesC. H.GalbraithC. S., eds, Ethnic Entrepreneurship: Structure and Process, Elsevier, Oxford, pp 95–112.
42.
GalbraithC. S.StilesC. H.RodriguezC. (2003), ‘Intraenclave trade: Hispanic and Arab small businesses’, Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Vol 16, No 3–4, pp 18–29.
43.
GlazerN.MoynihanD. P. (1963), Beyond the Melting Pot: The Negroes, Puerto Ricans, Italians and Irish of New York City, MIT, Boston, MA.
44.
GuisoL.SapienzaP.ZingalesL. (2003), ‘People's opium? Religion and economic attitudes’, Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol 50, No 1, January, pp 225–282.
45.
HamiltonR. T.DanaL. P.BenfellC. (2008), ‘Changing cultures: An international study of migrant entrepreneurs’, Journal of Enterprising Culture, Vol 16, No 1, March, pp 89–105.
46.
HawleyJ. M. (1995), ‘Maintaining business while maintaining boundaries: An Amish woman's entrepreneurial experience’, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Change, Vol 4, No 4, pp 315–328.
47.
HiebertP. G. (1976), Cultural Anthropology, J.B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, PA.
48.
HofstedeG. (2001), Culture's Consequences, 2 ed, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
49.
IyerG. R. (1999), ‘The impact of religion and reputation in the organization of Indian merchant communities’, The Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol 14, No 2, pp 102–117.
50.
IyerG. R. (2004), ‘Ethnic business families’, in StilesC. H.GalbraithC. S., eds, Ethnic Entrepreneurship: Structure and Process, Elsevier, Oxford, pp 243–260.
51.
IyerG. R.ShapiroJ. M. (1999), ‘Ethnic entrepreneurial and marketing systems: Implications for the global economy’, Journal of International Marketing, Vol 7, No 4, pp 83–110.
52.
JenkinsR. (1984), ‘Ethnicity and the rise of capitalism in Ulster’, in WardR.JenkinsR., eds, Ethnic Communities in Business: Strategies for Economic Survival, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 57–72.
KlandtH. (1987), ‘Trends in small business start-up in West Germany’, in GoffeeR.ScaseR., eds, Entrepreneurship in Europe: The Social Processes, Croom Helm, London, pp 26–38.
55.
KluckhohnC. K. (1949), Mirror for Man, Whittlesey House, Toronto.
56.
KluckhohnC. K. (1951), ‘Values and value orientations in the theory of action: An exploration in definition and classification’, in ParsonsT.ShilsE. A., eds, Toward a General Theory of Action, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 388–443.
57.
KluckhohnF. R.StrodtbeckF. L. (1961), Variations in Value Orientations, Row, Peterson & Co, Evanston, IL.
58.
KraybillD. B.BowmanC. F. (2001), On the Backroad to Heaven: Old Order Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish, and Brethren, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.
59.
KraybillD. B.NoltS. M. (1995), Amish Enterprise, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD.
60.
KroeberA. L.KluckhohnC. K. (1952), Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions, The Museum, Cambridge, MA.
61.
LaidlawJ. (1995), Riches and Renunciation: Religion, Economy, and Society Among the Jains, Clarendon, Oxford.
62.
LasryJ. C. (1982), ‘Une diaspora francophone au Quebec: Les Juifs sépharades’, Questions de Culture, Vol 2, pp 113–138.
63.
LeeJ. (1999), ‘Retail niche domination among African–American, Jewish and Korean entrepreneurs’, American Behavioral Scientist, Vol 42, No 9, pp 1398–1417.
64.
LewisW. A. (1955), The Theory of Economic Growth, Richard D. Irwin, Homewood, IL.
65.
LiuhtoK. (1996), ‘The transformation of the enterprise sector in Estonia: A historical approach to contemporary transition’, Journal of Enterprising Culture, Vol 4, No 3, September, pp 317–329.
66.
LumpkinG. T.DessG. G. (1996), ‘Clarifying the entrepreneurial orientation construct and linking it to performance’, Academy of Management Review, Vol 21, No 1, pp 135–172.
67.
MetcalfH.ModoodT.VirdeeS. (1996), Asian Self-Employment: The Interaction of Culture and Economics in England, Policy Studies Institute, London.
68.
Minkus-McKennaD. (2007), ‘The pursuit of halal’, Progressive Grocer, Vol 86, December, p 17.
69.
MonahanT. P.KephartW. M. (1954), ‘Divorce and desertion by religions and mixed religious groups’, American Journal of Sociology, Vol 59, No 5, pp 454–465.
70.
NevaskarB. (1971), Capitalists Without Capitalism: The Jains of India and the Quakers of the West, Greenwood, Westport, CT.
71.
NorcliffeG. (2001), Ride to Modernity: The Bicycle in Canada 1869–1900, University of Toronto Press, Toronto.
72.
PorterK. W. (1937), The Jacksons and the Lees: Two Generations of Massachusetts Merchants, 1765–1844, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
73.
RafiqM. (1992), ‘Ethnicity and enterprise: A comparison of Muslim and non-Muslim owned Asian businesses in Britain’, New Community, Vol 19, No 1, pp 43–60.
74.
RaistrickA. (1950), Quakers in Science and Industry, Bannisdale, London.
75.
RaphaëlF. (1980), ‘Les Juifs de la campagne alsacienne: Les marchands de bestiaux’, Revue des Sciences Sociales de la France de l'Est, Vol 9, pp 220–245.
76.
RathJ.KloostermanR. (2003), ‘The Netherlands: A Dutch treat’, in KloostermanR.RathJ., eds, Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Venturing Abroad in the Age of Globalization, Berg, Oxford, pp 123–146.
77.
ReynoldsP. D. (1991), ‘Sociology and entrepreneurship: Concepts and contributions’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol 16, No 2, pp 47–70.
78.
RokeachM. (1968), Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values, Jossey Bass, San Francisco, CA.
79.
RokeachM. (1973), The Nature of Human Values, Free Press, New York.
80.
RosenA. (2008), ‘Kosher quality: A rabbi, a Newfoundlander and a fish walk into a bar…’, enRoute, November, pp 105–108.
81.
SayighY. A. (1952), Entrepreneurs of Lebanon, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
82.
SchwartzS. H. (1992), ‘Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries’, in ZannaM. P., ed, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Book 25, Academic Press, Orlando, FL, pp 1–65.
83.
ShaperoA. (1984), ‘The entrepreneurial event’, in KentC. A., ed, The Environment for Entrepreneurship, D.C. Heath, Lexington, MA, pp 21–40.
84.
SombartW. (1911), Die Juden und das Wirtschaftsleben, Duncker und Humblot, Leipzig.
85.
SpechtP. H. (1993), ‘Munificence and carrying capacity of the environment and organizational carrying capacity’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol 17, No 2, pp 77–87.
86.
StewartA. (1991), ‘A prospectus on the anthropology of entrepreneurship’, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol 16, No 2, pp 71–91.
87.
StilesC. H.RodriguezC. L.GalbraithC. S. (2007), ‘The impact of ethnic–religious identification on buyer–seller behaviour: A study of two enclaves’, International Journal of Business and Globalisation, Vol 1, No 1, pp 20–33.
88.
TaftW. H. (1919), ‘The progressive world struggle of the Jews for civil equality’, National Geographic, Vol 36, No 1, pp 1–16.
89.
ThatcherM. (1993), The Downing Street Years, Harper Collins, London.
90.
ThomasW. I.ZnanieckiF. W. (1918), The Polish Peasant in Europe and America, Badger, Boston, MA.
91.
WeberM. (1904), ‘Die protestantische Ethik und der “Geist” des Kapitalismus. I. Das Problem’, Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik, Vol 20, No 1, pp 1–54.
92.
WeberM. (1924), The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, The Free Press, New York.
93.
WeberM. (1930), The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (translated by ParsonsTalcott), Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
94.
WoodrumE. M. (1985), ‘Religion and economics among Japanese Americans: A Weberian study,’Social Forces, Vol 64, pp 191–204.
95.
YoungH. (1991), One of Us, Macmillan, London.
96.
YoungH.SlomanA. (1986), The Thatcher Phenomenon, BBC, London.
97.
ZingalesL. (2006), ‘Gods and Mammon’, Global Agenda 2006, World Economic Forum, Davos, pp 228–229.
