The emergence and impact of the entrepreneurship industry

Bibliographic Data

ID14869732
AuthorsAnna Brattström (0000-0002-6950-7841, University of St Andrews, corresponding author), Marian Eabrasu (0000-0002-0864-5335, Université Le Havre Normandie), Richard Hunt (0000-0002-5325-101X), Richard ‘Rick’ Hunt (0000-0002-8893-2616, Virginia Tech), Christian Sandström (0000-0002-8625-8744, Linnaeus University), Karl Wennberg (0000-0001-7279-1006, Stockholm School of Economics)
Year2026
Volume66
Issue2
Pages675-683
Publication date2026-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSmall Business Economics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0921-898X • E-ISSN: 1573-0913
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11187-025-01129-9
OpenAlexW4415465458
LanguageEN
References cited28

This special issue introduces the concept of the “entrepreneurship industry” (EI), a rapidly expanding global sector comprising actors, services, and infrastructures that promote and commodify entrepreneurial activity. Moving beyond traditional demand-side views of entrepreneurship, the issue explores how EI shapes entrepreneurial behavior through cultural norms, institutional structures, and policy interventions. The six featured articles examine diverse facets of EI, including its cultural biases, framing dynamics, venture production regimes, intermediary roles, and sector-specific support mechanisms. Collectively, these contributions reveal how EI influences who becomes an entrepreneur, what ventures are legitimized, and how success is defined. The issue also highlights the paradoxes and unintended consequences of EI, such as exclusionary practices and innovation theater. By conceptualizing entrepreneurship as an industry, the issue opens new avenues for research into the socio-political construction of entrepreneurial ecosystems and calls for more inclusive, context-sensitive approaches in policy, education, and practice

Entrepreneurship · Framing (construction · New Ventures · Production (economics · Unintended consequences · Venture capital · Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences · Family Business Performance and Succession · Private Equity and Venture Capital

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