Using a historical approach, this paper revisits Max Weber's ‘Protestant ethic’, addressing in particular a variant form of it – the ‘Scottish work ethic’. It examines that ethic as both a collective and individuated theological drive that helped shape the proto-entrepreneurial proclivity of the Scottish people. The Scottish work ethic is a secularized drive peculiar to Scotland with its strong Calvinistic religious heritage and emphasis on hard work, thrift and education. From an academic perspective, although much has been written about the Protestant ethic and Weber's thesis, the same cannot be said of the Scottish work ethic. This paper fills this gap in the literature while extending consideration of the nature of the work ethic to include the power of religion and theological drives in the creation of the prevalent spirit of enterprise within a people.
AkbarM. (1993), ‘Ideology, environment and entrepreneurship: Typologies from Islamic texts and history’, Journal of Entrepreneurship, Vol 2, No 2, pp 135–154.
2.
AndersonA.Drakopoulou-DoddS.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.
3.
AndersonR. (2001), ‘In search of the ‘lad of parts’: The mythical history of Scottish education’, History Workshop Journal, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
4.
ApplebaumH. (1998), The American Work Ethic and the Changing Work Force: A Historical Perspective, Greenwood Publishing, Westport, CT.
5.
ArshadR.MitchellL. (undated), ‘Inclusion: Is it the new threat to the equity and anti-discrimination agenda in Scottish schools?’School of Education, University of Edinburgh.
6.
AudretschD. B.WernerB.TamvadaJ. P. (2007), ‘Religion and entrepreneurship’, Jena Economic Research Paper No 2007–075, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Jena.
7.
BaumolW. J. (1990), ‘Entrepreneurship, productive, unproductive and destructive’, Journal of Political Economy, Vol 98, No 5, pp 893–921.
8.
BentmanR. (1987), Robert Burns, Twayne Publishers, Boston, MA.
9.
BlackburnK. (1997), ‘The Protestant work ethic and the Australian mercantile elite, 1880–1914’, Journal of Religious History, Vol 21, No 2, pp 193–208.
10.
BriggsA. (1968), ‘Samuel Smiles and the gospel of work’, Victorian People, Chicago University Press, Chicago, IL.
11.
CarswellP.RollandD. (2004), ‘The role of religion in entrepreneurship participation and perception’, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Vol 1, Nos 3–4, pp 280–286.
12.
CaulkinsD. (2002), ‘Globalization and the local hero: Becoming a small-scale entrepreneur in Scotland’, Anthropology of Work Review, Vol 23, No 1–2, pp 24–29.
13.
ChecklandO. G.ChecklandS. G. (1989), Industry and Ethos: Scotland 1832–1914, The University of Glasgow Press, Glasgow.
14.
ChecklandS. G. (1976), The Upas Tree: Glasgow 1875–1975: A Study in Growth and Contraction, The University of Glasgow Press, Glasgow.
15.
CiullaJ. B. (1999), ‘The importance of leadership in shaping business values’, Long Range Planning, Vol 32, No 2, pp 166–172.
16.
ClarkD. F. (2007), Remember Who You Are! The Story of a Son of the Manse, Cualann Press, Dunfermline.
17.
CochranT. (1950), ‘Entrepreneurial behavior and motivation’, Explorations in Entrepreneurial History, Vol 2, pp 304–307.
18.
CornwallJ. R.NaughtonM. J. (undated), ‘Integrating entrepreneurship with the liberal arts: Theology for entrepreneurship students’, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN, Website: http://www.abe.villanova.edu/cornwall.pdf (accessed 7 March 2008).
19.
DaviesC. (1992), ‘The Protestant ethic and the comic spirit of capitalism’, The British Journal of Sociology, Vol 43, No 3, pp 421–442.
20.
DeutschmannC. (2001a), ‘Capitalism as a religion? An unorthodox analysis of entrepreneurship’, European Journal of Social Theory, Vol 4, No 4, pp 387–403.
21.
DeutschmannC. (2001b), ‘The promise of absolute wealth: Capitalism as a religion?’Thesis Eleven, Vol 66, No 1, pp 32–56.
22.
DevineT. M. (2000), The Scottish Nation, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth.
23.
DevineT. M. (2002), Scotland's Empire 1600–1815, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth.
24.
DevineT.DicksonD. (1985), ‘Ireland and Scotland, 1600–1850: Parallels and contrasts in economic and social development’, The Economic History Review, New Series, Vol 38, No 2, pp 302–304.
25.
DoddDrakopoulou S.GotsisG. (2007), ‘The interrelationships between entrepreneurship and religion’, The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Vol 8, No 2, pp 93–104.
26.
DoddDrakopoulou S.GotsisG. (2009), ‘Special Issue Introduction: Entrepreneurship and religion’, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Vol 10, No 2.
27.
DoddDrakopoulou S.SeamanP. T. (1998), ‘Religion and enterprise: An introductory exploration’, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, Vol 23.
28.
ForsterP. G. (1986), ‘Missionaries and anthropology: The case of the Scots of northern Malawi’, Journal of Religion in Africa, Vol 16, No 22, pp 101–120.
29.
FryM. (2002), The Scottish Empire, Birlinn Press, Edinburgh.
30.
GiddensA. (1976), ‘Introduction’, in WeberM., The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, George Allen and Unwin, London.
31.
GreggS. (2004), ‘Ethics and the market economy: Insights from Catholic moral theology’, Economic Affairs, Vol 24, No 2, pp 4–10.
32.
GreggS.PreeceG. (1999), Christianity and Entrepreneurship: Protestant and Catholic Thoughts, Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, Grand Rapids, MI.
33.
HarvieC. (2002), Scotland: A Short History, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
34.
HermanA. (2001), How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It, Random House, London.
KoiranenM.KarlssonN. (2002), ‘Self-identified sources of work-related joy – a comparative study’, in Proceedings of the 13th Annual World Conference of the Family Business Network, 11–14 September, Helsinki, pp 425–448.
37.
LaingD., ed (2004), The Works of John Knox, Dodo Press, London.
38.
MacKinnonM.OramR. (2003), The Scots: A Photohistory, Thames & Hudson, London.
39.
MassieA. (2005), ‘Comment: Allan Massie: Whatever happened to our work ethic?’The Sunday Times, 23 January.
McCroneD. (2001), Understanding Scotland: The Sociology of a Nation, Routledge, London.
42.
McNeillJ. T. (1991), History and Character of Calvinism, Oxford University Press, London.
43.
MillerH. (1859), Schools and Schoolmasters: Or the Story of My Education, T. Constable, Edinburgh.
44.
MohandossT. J. (1996), ‘Jains and entrepreneurship’, Mankind Quarterly, Vol 37, No 1, pp 77–91.
45.
NataleS. M.RothschildB. M. (1995), Work Values: Education, Organization and Religious Concerns, Rodopi, Amsterdam and Atlanta.
46.
NotesteinW. (1946), The Scot in History: A Study of the Interplay Between Character and History, Jonathan Cape, London.
47.
PsathasG. (1995), Conversation Analysis: The Study of Talk-in-Interaction, Qualitative Research Methods Series 35, Sage University Press, Thousand Oaks, CA.
48.
ReedR. (1991), ‘Calvinism, the Weber thesis, and entrepreneurial behaviour: The case of David Syme’, Journal of Religious History, Vol 16, No 3, pp 292–303.
49.
RombergR. (1998), ‘The profession of brujeria on spiritual entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico’, dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
50.
SchalmB. (1971), ‘Motivation: From a theological perspective’, Pastoral Psychology Science, Vol 22, No 5, pp 57–60.
51.
SchröderH. (1995), ‘Max Weber und der Puritanismus’, Geschichte und Gesellschaft, Vol 21, pp 459–478.
52.
SchumpeterJ. A. (1937 [1983]), The Theory of Economic Development, Transaction Publishers, Berlin.
53.
SmilesS. (1859/2002), Self-Help, Oxford University Press, London.
54.
SmilesS. (1871), Character, John Murray, London.
55.
SmilesS. (1875), Thrift, John Murray, London.
56.
SmilesS. (1880), Duty, John Murray, London.
57.
SmilesS. (1887), Life and Labour, John Murray, London.
58.
VinerJ. (1978), Religious Thought and Economic Society, Duke University Press, Durham.
WeberM. (1976), The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, George Allen and Unwin, London.
62.
WightD. (1993), Workers Not Wasters: Masculine Respectability, Consumption and Unemployment in Central Scotland: A Community Study, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
