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Abstract:
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Israel Kirzner’s concept of entrepreneurship as alertness to profit opportunities is one of the most
influential modern interpretations of the entrepreneurial function. Shane and Venkataraman’s
(2000: 218) influential assessment defines entrepreneurship research as “the scholarly examination
of how, by whom, and with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services
are discovered, evaluated, and exploited.” As such, “the field involves the study of sources of
opportunities; the processes of discovery, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities; and the
set of individuals who discover, evaluate, and exploit them.” Shane’s General Theory of Entrepreneurship
(2003) cites Kirzner and “Kirznerian opportunities” more than any writer other than
Joseph Schumpeter. More generally, the entrepreneurial opportunity, rather than the individual
entrepreneur, the startup company, or the new product, has become the centerpiece of the academic
study of entrepreneurship. |
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