Motives for entrepreneurship and establishing one’s own business among people with disabilities: Findings from a scoping review

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of selected research studies.

Author/year	Title	Sample/country	Study design
Ashley and Graf (2018)	The Process and Experiences of Self-Employment Among People With Disabilities: A Qualitative Study	18 individuals engaged in self-employment endeavours (US)	Qualitative study. Online survey.
Beisland, Mersland, and Zamore (2016)	Field Report: Motivations for business start-up: are there any differences between disabled and non-disabled microfinance clients?	Microfinance clients. 281 respondents, of whom 96 had a disability. (Ecuador)	Telephone survey
Olaz-Capitán and Ortiz-García (2019)	A prospective approach to the moderating elements of entrepreneurial intention in people with disabilities	224 respondents with physical, sensory, and organic disabilities. Data from nationwide survey. (Spain)	Quantitative study with statistical analysis of data
Cooney and Licciardi (2019)	The same but different: Understanding entrepreneurial behaviour in disadvantaged communities	No new empirical data. Builds on previous research.	Qualitative study. Compilation of previous research.
Gallegos-Erazo and Salas-Díaz (2019)	Business-career transition of poor people with disabilities in Ecuador: An exploratory study	Ten people with disabilities who started their own business. Theoretical selection from a database. (Ecuador)	Qualitative study. Analysis using grounded theory, multiple case study approach.
Ortiz-García and Olaz-Capitán (2019)	Gender differences in entrepreneurship of people with disabilities	Residents (n = n/a) with physical, sensory, and organic disabilities (Spain)	Quantitative study. Survey.
García-Palma and Molina (2019)	Disability and entrepreneurship in Spain: Reality and initial hypothesis	224 residents with physical, sensory and organic disabilities (Spain)	Descriptive analysis of obtained survey data
Hsieh, Molina, and Weng (2019)	The road to entrepreneurship with impairments: A challenges-adaptive mechanisms-results model for disabled entrepreneurs	13 entrepreneurs with physical impairments (Honduras, Mexico, Chile, and Spain)	Qualitative study. In-depth semi-structured interviews.
Jones and Latreille (2011)	Disability and self-employment: evidence for the UK	Four quarters from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) data (UK)	Quantitative study. Cross-sectional dataset.
Kašperová, Kitching, and Blackburn (2018)	Identity as a casual power: Contextualizing entrepreneurs’ concerns	Three entrepreneurs with disabilities (UK)	Qualitative study. Interviews. In-depth analysis.
López-Felipe and Valera (2019)	Self-management in entrepreneurship of people with disabilities	172 participants who self-identified as individuals with disabilities (US)	Quantitative study. Online survey.
Maritz and Laferriere (2016)	Entrepreneurship and self-employment for people with disabilities	Earlier studies from other countries, and two cases of successful entrepreneurs with disabilities (Australia)	Qualitative study
Navarro and Martínez (2019)	The variable ‘labour and professional situation’ of people with disabilities	Sample of residents (n = n/a) with physical, sensory and organic disabilities (Spain)	Quantitative study. Statistical analysis of data collected from a survey.
Ostrow, Smith, Penney, and Shumway (2019)	‘It Suits My Needs’: Self-Employed Individuals With Psychiatric Disabilities and Small Businesses	60 adults with a history of psychiatric disability who were self-employed (US)	Web-based survey
Quinton (2014)	Self-employment as a solution for attitudinal barriers: A case study	One person with multiple physical impairments (US)	Case study
Saxena and Pandya (2018)	Gauging underdog entrepreneurship for disabled entrepreneurs	Eight entrepreneurs with locomotor or visual impairment (India)	Qualitative research including case study methodology
Yamamoto, Unruh, and Bullis (2012)	The viability of self-employment for individuals with disabilities in the United States: A synthesis of the empirical-research literature	12 empirical research studies (US) and 15 other publications (international)	Synthesis of empirical research literature

Ashley, Deborah, and Noreen Graf. 2018. “The Process and Experiences of Self-Employment among People with Disabilities: A Qualitative Study.” Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin 61 (2): 90–100. doi:10.1177/0034355216687712.

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Beisland, Leif Atle, Roy Mersland, and Stephen Zamore. 2016. “Motivations for Business Start-up: Are There Any Differences between Disabled and Non-Disabled Microfinance Clients?” Journal of International Development 28 (1): 147–149. doi:10.1002/jid.3196.

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Olaz-Capitán, Ángel, and Pilar Ortiz-García. 2019. “A Prospective Approach to the Moderating Elements of Entrepreneurial Intention in People with Disabilities.” Journal of Entrepreneurship Education 22 (2): 1–6. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335790069.

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Cooney, Thomas M., and Michelle Licciardi. 2019. “The Same but Different: Understanding Entrepreneurial Behaviour in Disadvantaged Communities.” In Entrepreneurial Behaviour: Individual, Contextual and Microfoundational Perspectives, edited by Maura McAdam and James A. Cunningham, 317–345. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Gallegos-Erazo, Franklin, and Daniel Salas-Díaz. 2019. “Business-Career Transition of Poor People with Disabilities in Ecuador: An Exploratory Study.” The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social and Community Studies 14 (1): 13–35. doi:10.18848/2324-7576/CGP/v14i01/13-35.

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Ortiz-García, Pilar, and Ángel Olaz-Capitán. 2019. “Gender Differences in Entrepreneurship of People with Disabilities.” Journal of Entrepreneurship Education 22 (6): 1–6. https://www.abacademies.org/articles/gender-differences-in-entrepreneurship-of-people-with-disabilities-8418.html.

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García-Palma, Belén, and Isabel Sánchez-Mora Molina. 2019. “Disability and Entrepreneurship in Spain: Reality and Initial Hypothesis.” Journal of Entrepreneurship Education 22 (S2): 1–6. https://www.abacademies.org/articles/disability-and-entrepreneurship-in-spain-reality-and-initial-hypothesis-8436.html.

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Hsieh, Ying-Che, Victoria Maria Josse Molina, and Jingjing Weng. 2019. “The Road to Entrepreneurship with Impairments: A Challenges-Adaptive Mechanisms-Results Model for Disabled Entrepreneurs.” International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship 37 (8): 761–779. doi:10.1177/0266242619867654.

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Jones, Melanie K., and Paul L. Latreille. 2011. “Disability and Self-Employment: Evidence for the UK.” Applied Economics 43 (27): 4161–4178. doi:10.1080/00036846.2010.489816.

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Kašperová, Eva, John Kitching, and Robert Blackburn. 2018. “Identity as a Causal Power: Contextualizing Entrepreneurs’ Concerns.” The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation 19 (4): 237–249. doi:10.1177/1465750318763213.

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Maritz, Alex, and Richard Laferriere. 2016. “Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment for People with Disabilities.” Australian Journal of Career Development 25 (2): 45–54. doi:10.1177/1038416216658044.

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Navarro, Maria Jose Portillo, and Catalina Nicolás Martínez. 2019. “The Variable ‘Labour and Professional Situation’ of People with Disabilities.” Journal of Entrepreneurship Education 22 (2S): 1–24. https://www.abacademies.org/articles/the-variable-34labour-and-professional-situation34-of-people-with-disabilitiessup1sup-8461.html.

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Ostrow, Laysha, Carina Smith, Darby Penney, and Martha Shumway. 2019. “It Suits My Needs’: Self-Employed Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities and Small Businesses.” Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal 42 (2): 121–131. doi:10.1037/prj0000341.

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Saxena, Satish Siddartha, and Rushi Sanat Kumar Pandya. 2018. “Gauging Underdog Entrepreneurship for Disabled Entrepreneurs.” Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy 12 (1): 3–18. doi:10.1108/JEC-06-2017-0033.

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Yamamoto, Scott, Deanne Unruh, and Michael Bullis. 2012. “The Viability of Self-Employment for Individuals with Disabilities in the United States: A Synthesis of the Empirical-Research Literature.” Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 36 (2): 121–134. doi:10.3233/JVR-2011-0559.

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