Abstract
Entrepreneurship research can be broadly placed into three categories: that which examines the people (entrepreneurs); that which examines the process and that which examines the entrepreneurial or business opportunities. This chapter specifically looks at social entrepreneurial opportunities and the process of identifying and evaluating these types of opportunities. I address three important questions:
-
What makes social entrepreneurial opportunities different from other types of opportunities?
-
What makes social entrepreneurship special?
-
How do social entrepreneurs find social entrepreneurial opportunities?
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acs, Z. 1999. Are small firms important? Their role and impact. Norwell, MA: Kluwer.
Acs, Z. and Audretsch, D. 1988. Innovation in small and large firms: An empirical analysis. American Economic Review, 78(4): 678–90.
Alvord, S. H., Brown, D. L. and Letts, C. W. 2004. Social entrepreneurship and societal transformation: An exploratory study. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 40(3): 260–83.
Bain, J. S. 1956. Barriers to new competition. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Bornstein, D. 2004. How to change the world: Social entrepreneurs and the power of new ideas. New York: Oxford University Press.
Bourdieu, P. 1984. Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Brainard, L. A. and Siplon, P. D. 2004. Toward nonprofit organization reform in the voluntary spirit: Lessons from the internet. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 33(3): 435–57.
Burt, R. S. 1992. Structural holes: The social structure of competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Carroll, G. R., Bigelow, L. S., Siedel, M. L. and Tsai, L. B. 1996. The fates of De Novo and De Alio producers in the American automobile industry, 1885–1981. Strategic Management Journal, 17: 117–37.
Casson, M. 1982. The entrepreneur. Totowa, NJ: Barnes and Noble Books.
Clark, J. B. 1907. The Essentials of Economic Theory. New York: Macmillan.
Coleman, J. S. 1990. Foundations of social theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Dees, J. G. 1998. The meaning of social entrepreneurship. Paper. Centre for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham. Available: http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/centers/case/doc-uments/dees_SE.pdf.
Eisenhardt, K. 1989. Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review, 14(4): 532–50.
Granovetter, M. 1985. Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91(3): 481–510.
Granovetter, M. 1992. Problems of explanation in economic sociology. In N. Nohria and R. G. Eccles (eds), Networks and organizations, structure, form and action: 25–56. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Granovetter, M. 1999. The economic sociology of firms and entrepreneurs. In A. Portes (ed.), The Economic Sociology of Immigration: Essays in Networks, Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship: 128–65. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Hannan, M. T., Carroll, G. R., Dundon, E. A. and Torres, J. C. 1995. Organizational evolution in a multinational context: Entries of automobile manufacturers in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany and Italy. American Sociological Review, 60: 509–28.
Harrigan, K. R. 1981. Barriers to entry and competitive strategies. Strategic Management Journal, 2: 395–412.
Hayek, F. 1945. The use of knowledge in society. American Economic Review, 35(4): 519–30.
Ingram, P. and Clay, K. 2000. The choice-within-constraints New Institutionalism and implications for Sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 26: 525–46.
Ingram, P. and Simons, T. 2000. State formation, ideological competition, and the ecology of Israeli workers cooperatives, 1920–1992. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45(1): 25.
Kahneman, D. and Tversky, A. 1979. Prospect theory: An analysis of decisions under risk. Econometrica, 47: 313–27.
Karakaya, F. and Stahl, M. J. 1989. Barriers to entry and market entry decisions in consumer and industrial goods markets. Journal of Marketing, 53(2): 80.
Kirzner, I. 1997. Entrepreneurial discovery and the competitive market process: An Austrian approach. Journal of Economic Literature, 35: 60–85.
Klepper, S. and Simons, K. L. 2000. Dominance by birthright: Entry of prior radio producers and competitive ramifications in the US television receiver industry. Strategic Management Journal, 21: 997–1016.
McGrath, R. and MacMillian, I. 2000. The entrepreneurial mindset. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing.
Miles, M. B. and Huberman, A. M. 1994. Qualitative data analysis. (2nd edn) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Porter, M. 1980. Competitive Strategy. New York: Free Press.
Portes, A. 1994. The informal economy. In N. J. Smelser and R. Swedberg (eds) The handbook of economic sociology: 426–49. Princeton: Sage Foundation.
Robinson, J. A. 2004. An economic sociology of entry barriers: Social and institutional entry barriers to inner city markets. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Columbia University, Graduate School of Business — Management, New York.
Ronstadt, R. 1988. The corridor principle. Journal of Business Venturing, 3: 31–40.
Scherer, F. M. 1980. Industrial market structure and economic performance. Chicago: Rand McNally.
Schmalensee, R. 1981. Economies of scale and barriers to entry. Journal of Political Economy, 89: 1228–38.
Shane, S. 2000. Prior knowledge and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities. Organization Science, 11(4): 448.
Shane, S. and Venkataraman, S. 2000. The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review, 25(1): 217.
Singh, R. P. 2001. A comment on developing the field of entrepreneurship through the study of opportunity recognition and exploitation. Academy of Management Review, 26(1): 10–12.
Thompson, J. L. 2002. The world of the social entrepreneur. The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 15(4/5): 412–32.
Tucker, D. J., Singh, J. V. and Meinhard, A. 1990. Organizational form, population dynamics, and institutional change: The founding patterns of voluntary organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 33: 151–78.
Uzzi, B. 1997. Social structure and competition in interfirm networks: The paradox of embeddedness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 42: 35–67.
Wagner, J. 1994. The post-entry performance of new small firms in German manufacturing industries. The Journal of Industrial Economics, 52: 141–54.
Yin, R. K. 2003. Case study research: Design and methods (3rd edn) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2006 Jeffrey Robinson
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Robinson, J. (2006). Navigating Social and Institutional Barriers to Markets: How Social Entrepreneurs Identify and Evaluate Opportunities. In: Mair, J., Robinson, J., Hockerts, K. (eds) Social Entrepreneurship. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230625655_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230625655_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-54553-7
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-62565-5
eBook Packages: Palgrave Business & Management CollectionBusiness and Management (R0)