The Entrepreneurship Industry: Influences of the Goods and Services Marketed to Entrepreneurs

Abstract

This paper constitutes the first comprehensive attempt to define and assess entrepreneurship as an industry, and it is the only study to date to empirically evaluate the extent to which the entrepreneurship industry (EI) is associated with entrepreneurial actions and outcomes. EI is defined as the goods and services explicitly intended for opportunity discovery and development by current and prospective entrepreneurs, an industry with $13 billion in annual revenue. In order to assess EI's influence, we employ a matched set comparison of EI consumers and nonconsumers, which reveals that high levels of EI consumption are associated with an increase in entrepreneurial activity but a decrease in performance and survival prospects. The findings address material gaps in existing frameworks by adding EI to the entrepreneurial contexts that exert a potent influence on the identification, development, and exploitation of opportunities.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard A. Hunt

1.

Richard A. Hunt is Assistant Professor in the Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines.

Kip Kiefer

Kip Kiefer is Assistant Professor in the Department of Management, United States Air Force Academy.