Great Minds in Entrepreneurship Research

Contributions, Critiques, and Conversations

Vishal K. Gupta

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9783030441241
• eBook ISBN:
  9783030441258
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Entrepreneurship
• Index: Business

Awarded every year since 1996, the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research (GAER) recognizes outstanding contributions in quality and importance to scientific research in entrepreneurship. This book examines the work of GAER award winners (1996–2020), discusses major contributions to the field, identifies critiques of their work, and highlights directions for future research. Students and faculty will find this book to be a rich resource for understanding the impact of leading entrepreneurship scholars.

© The Author(s) 2020

V. K. GuptaGreat Minds in Entrepreneurship Researchhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44125-8_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Vishal K. Gupta¹

(1)

The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

Vishal K. Gupta

Email: [email protected]

End Abstract

Every year, editors of leading entrepreneurship journals are invited to nominate outstanding researchers for the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research (GAER). Informally referred to among some as the ‘Nobel’ for research in entrepreneurial studies, GAER is an annual prize that seeks to recognize one or more persons for producing “scientific work of outstanding quality and importance, thereby giving a significant contribution to theory-building concerning entrepreneurship and small business development, the role and importance of new firm formation and the role of SMEs in economic development” (Braunerhjelm & Henrekson, 2009: 810). Since it was first presented in 1996,¹ the GAER has gradually become the foremost recognition for academic research in entrepreneurship studies. The award winner is expected to deliver the annual prize lecture at an official ceremony in Stockholm,² where the award is conferred by a member of either the Swedish royal family or the Swedish cabinet.

Europe has a long history of recognizing scientific achievement through public awards. In the nineteenth century, practically every European academy of sciences had prizes for outstanding scientific results (Monastyrsky, 1997). Many of these prizes were sometimes also awarded to foreign scholars. However, most of the prizes were either a simple one-time recognition or awarded only for a limited period of time. As a result, few prizes for scholarship and research exist that have a legitimate claim to be recognized worldwide and have a relatively long stable track record. The Fields Medal for mathematics research is one such honor. Of course, the most popular and reputed of the international awards for research is the Nobel Prize, named in honor of the entrepreneur-turned-philanthropist Alfred Nobel who willed the multi-million dollar gift that funds the award (Karier, 2010).

When Alfred Nobel died, his will stipulated five prizes for “those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind,” with one each in physics, chemistry, medicine (or physiology), literature, and for fostering peace among nations. The first prizes were awarded in 1901 and were accompanied by a financial reward equal to the sum of the interest on Nobel’s gift. In 1968, the Bank of Sweden (Sveriges Riksbank) persuaded the Nobel Foundation to recognize scholarly achievements in economics. Generally referred to as the Nobel Prize in economics, it became the sixth annual prize given out by the Nobel Foundation.

In many ways, the GAER mimics the Nobel prizes. Like its more illustrious Nobel counterparts, the GAER is a Sweden-based award granted every year in a glittering ceremony in Stockholm. In both cases, the award consists of a statuette and a cash award. Nominations are expected to be confidential and the deliberations of the selection committee are kept secret. Award winners tend to be researchers publishing in academic journals (rather than popular writers: think Thomas Friedman and Malcolm Gladwell). Yet, the announcement of the award is a milestone as another researcher (or two) joins the exalted ranks of the awardees and gains the respect of his or her peers.

Despite these similarities, the GAER is not actually part of the Nobel family of prizes. It is not issued by the Nobel Foundation in Sweden. Press accounts do not describe it as a Nobel. As is the case for the economics award, the GAER is not funded by the Nobel Foundation and its winners are technically not Nobel laureates. And yet, with the institution of the GAER, entrepreneurship scholars got invited to join a small, but elite, group of some of the most outstanding scientific minds in modern history. Our esteemed colleagues in physics, chemistry, economics, medicine, and even mathematics were already at the party, so we are certainly in good company with the institutionalization of the GAER.

At this point, readers who wish to learn more about GAER can read Braunerhjelm and Henrekson (2009) and Henrekson and Lundström (2009). The Website www.​e-award.​org is also a useful resource for those interested in learning more about the award. All three sources provide good information on the history and goals of this prestigious award, its nomination process, selection criteria, and award ceremony. When the award was being restructured in the 2000s, the Sveriges Riksbank was invited to join the sponsoring team as it had previously sponsored the economics prize given by the Nobel Foundation (and known officially as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Science in Memory of Alfred Nobel). The bank, however, rejected the proposal stating that it could not support an award for entrepreneurship research. In a classic case of serendipity, a Swedish journalist discussed the bank’s response in a national newspaper, which was seen by a high-ranking manager at the leading Swedish telecom company Telia. After a year of discussions and negotiations, Telia formally joined NUTEK (Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth) and FSF (Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research) to sponsor the award for entrepreneurship research. The prize sum was enhanced, the evaluation of prospective award winners was strengthened and formalized, and the ‘The Hand of God’ statuette by Swedish sculptor Carl Milles was made part of the award.³ Currently, the partners supporting the Award are the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum (Entreprenörskapsforum), Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Vinnova (as sponsor), and the donor Lars Backsell (Chairman of the Board of Sweden-based Recipharm AB, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical firms).⁴

Is Entrepreneurship Research Scientific?

The primary goal of the GAER is to honor “outstanding scientific achievement” (Brauerhjelm & Henrekson, 2009: 810). A question that immediately comes to mind then is whether entrepreneurship research is truly a scientific field of inquiry. Does scholarship in entrepreneurship deserve a similar global award for its contribution to society as is the case for the more illustrious fields of physics, chemistry, and medicine, or even the latecomer, economics? At a basic level, science is about uncovering the hidden nature of the phenomenon. The scientific method, applied relentlessly, should unravel the mysteries (usually, gradually) until basic truths emerge. During the process, theories are either confirmed or refuted, creating opportunities for new hypotheses to emerge. This basic understanding of science is also at the heart of Thomas Kuhn’s masterpiece The Scientific Revolution, which uses examples from different academic fields to explain the progress of science.

Although ‘physics envy’ has long been a topic of discussion among entrepreneurship researchers (Bygrave, 1989, 2007), entrepreneurship is not ‘science’ in the way...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Small Firms
• 3. Purpose
• 4. Geography
• 5. From the Disciplines
• 6. Strategy
• 7. Sub-Domains
• 8. Overall Program
• 9. Conclusion
• Back Matter