The Entrepreneurial Process

by Reynolds, Paul D.; White, Sammis B.

• ISBN13: 9781567200126
• ISBN10: 1567200125
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-11-30
• Publisher: Praeger Pub Text

Summary

Entrepreneurship is an extremely important, but little understood, component of the U.S. economy. This book aids that understanding by exploring the challenges and outcomes of the start-up phases of new firms. This is the first detailed, large-scale, longitudinally-based analysis of the entrepreneurial process. Three representative samples of new firms and two representative samples of nascent entrepreneurs (those attempting to start new firms) are used to consider a variety of factors that affect successful completion of the major transitions in the life of new businesses: conception, birth, and early development (survival and growth). Surprisingly, a substantial minority of start-ups become operational new firms. Among the many lessons the authors learn are that although new firm growth appears to reflect many factors, initial size is of special consequence. Not only are many general insights for entrepreneurs revealed, but the authors also pay special attention to the involvement of women and minorities in entrepreneurship and suggest effective government policy for different stages in the entrepreneurial process.

Author Biography

PAUL D. REYNOLDS is the Paul T. Babson Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies at Babson College.SAMMIS B. WHITE is Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	ix	(4)
Preface	xiii	(4)
Acknowledgments	xvii
Chapter 1 Introduction	1	(12)
Chapter 2 Economic Growth and Entrepreneurial Activity: Symbiosis in Action	13	(26)
Chapter 3 Nascent Entrepreneurs and Business Start-ups	39	(28)
Chapter 4 Transformation of Business Start-ups to Fledging New Firms	67	(20)
Chapter 5 Fledgling New Firms: Growth after Birth	87	(42)
Chapter 6 Fledgling New Firms: Persistence after Birth	129	(34)
Written with Mary Williams
Chapter 7 Entrepreneurial Processes and Outcomes: The Influence of Gender	163	(16)
Written by Nancy Carter
Chapter 8 Entrepreneurial Processes and Outcomes: The Influence of Ethnicity	179	(26)
Chapter 9 Overview: The Entrepreneurial Engine and Implications	205	(12)
Appendix Future Research on the Entrepreneurial Process	217	(2)
References	219	(8)
Index	227