Book Reviews developing countries does not automatically engender sustainable development, the fact that the hopes vested in technological development might be too high, the fact that global public goods are still to be constructed in order to unite global governance, and the fact that tax systems need to be revised in order to materialise those goods. The book has a strong focus on economic concerns in a wider sense. In general, pointing out the limitations caused by such a focus is not the most thoughtful form of critique. However, in this case a deeper problem runs through the book: if the aim is to tie economics and ecology more closely together, this entails the necessity to also enlist scholarship that has already engaged with issues that emerge on the borderland between the two. A particular example is the relatively underdeveloped notion of technology. Admittedly, this concern emerges importantly from the particular background of this reviewer, although that does not detract from the fact that a great potential is left unmined. Chapters 4 and 12 engage with technology in a more substantial way. Chapter 4 starts promisingly by identifying technology as a site of construction, and lists four challenges that technology has to face (recycling waste, looping cycles, dematerialising products, and green energy; p. 97). However, it then more or less ends at arguing that hopes for technological change should not be too high, as technological change involves organisational as well as behavioural change, and may lead to rebound effects. By presenting this conclusion, the chapter largely neglects decades of scholarship in science and technology studies, where the proposition has served as a starting point for enquiry, rather than as a conclusion. A similar critique holds for Chapter 12, where ‘green tech’ is left unquestioned as a blanket technological
Science and Public Policy 41 (2014) pp. 549–551 Advance Access published on 30 May 2014
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promise (p. 271), which will apparently materialise if policy, organisations and markets endorse it sufficiently. It does not explore what ‘green’ may be and how this notion is itself subject to technological, social, cultural, and indeed economic construction. Particularly, when holding up China as an example of best practice in sustainable development (p. 268), it is left undiscussed how China proceeds here, which leaves the reader to start wondering. Who knows whether the Chinese are actually innovating, or are merely purchasing turnkey solutions from elsewhere—the issue is not even addressed. Similarly, while Chapter 9 addresses technology and innovation in a way that specifies more of the connections between science, technology and society, it still treats both science and technology largely as a resource that will simply bloom if the economic and policy context are sufficiently beneficial. Even though the book does not at all points transcend being a mere collection of papers, it still provides an interesting collection of potential innovations in economic thinking. Those ideas are supported by a thorough presentation of economic theories, and at some points fairly detailed empirical accounts. Given the above-mentioned considerations, the readership is more likely among those who seek inspiration for further research, than among students in need of a textbook.
Govert Valkenburg Department of Technology and Society Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, Grote Gracht 76, 6211 SZ Maastricht, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; E-mail:
[email protected]
doi:10.1093/scipol/scu030
Conceptual Richness and Methodological Diversity in Entrepreneurship Research edited by Alain Fayolle, Paula Kyro¨, To˜nis Mets and Urve Venesaar Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, 2013, 352 pages, £90.00 (hardback), ISBN 9781782547303 Entrepreneurship is a concept that has been widely studied. Each year, it forms the main subject of numerous books, articles and other research documents as well as policy initiatives. One then wonders why or how it remains a fruitful research topic. I can adduce several factors for this, two of which are particularly
relevant here: first, entrepreneurship spans disciplinary boundaries; second, it is strongly influenced by geographical and cultural context. It is for these reasons that the edited volume, Conceptual Richness and Methodological Diversity in Entrepreneurship Research, is interesting. The fifth in a series on entrepreneurship in Europe, the 13
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chapters of this book are the product of research and dialogue within a multi-country research network. It carefully combines a multidisciplinary flavour with contextual sensitivity, being mindful of European culture and diversity. The first chapter offers the reader some insight into the broad series to which the book belongs. This chapter also highlights the key issues that the book focuses on and summarises the main message of each of the other chapters. Despite being well written and stimulating, particularly concerning the book’s manifesto, one gap is apparent in the introductory chapter: the absence of a conceptual definition of entrepreneurship. That is quite understandably: the book is the fifth in a series and such basic issues as definitions and delimitation should have been addressed much earlier in the series. Notwithstanding, for the reader whose first experience with the series occurs with this book, even a brief mention of what is meant by entrepreneurship in the book would have gone a long way. That being said, the attentive reader will quickly notice from the rest of the chapters that new business formation or self employment are the broad activities that constitute entrepreneurship in this book. For instance, Chapter 2 reminds us that: . . . creating a venture is a process that begins with the individual’s personal decision . . . (p. 15)
The remaining 12 chapters of the book are divided into four parts. Each of the three chapters in Part I empirically analyses a relationship that is of broad relevance to entrepreneurship. In Chapter 2, it is the relationship between individual value systems among Spanish university graduates and entrepreneurial intention. Chapter 3 examines the correlation between the motivations of Italian scientists and their entrepreneurial propensity, as reflected in the decision to start a spin-off. Chapter 4 seeks to explain Spanish undergraduates’ view of entrepreneurial culture in terms of some of their demographics. In general, the samples adopted in these independent chapters are rich and diverse, the methods are adequately rigorous and the results are largely non-trivial. To give just one example, Chapter 4 finds that, contrary to what might be the logical expectation, self-employed parents—particularly the father—seem to have a negative influence on their children’s perception about entrepreneurial culture. However, the fact that the analyses are all based on cross-sectional samples is a ‘good’ limitation, one that is shared by all the empirical chapters in the book. With this type of data, it is understood that the direction of causality is not properly understood. For instance, in relation to Chapter 3, are scientists more likely to start a spin-off because they have external funding or they are able to access external funding because they are already entrepreneurially minded? Questions like this are what make the use of cross-sectional data a good limitation in this
case: they simply indicate the need for extensive intertemporal analyses. The four chapters each in Parts II and III focus on entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship development, respectively. No doubt, these issues are crucial in an age of rapid technological advancement and globalised competition. If nation states are to remain economically healthy, then they need to figure out how to create economic value. Entrepreneurial activity is an important factor in this effort. Consequently, it is useful to analyse how individuals learn, or can be taught to become entrepreneurs, as well as how their ventures can be supported. This is why the individual studies reported in Chapters 5–12 are each interesting in their own right. For instance, who would not be interested in knowing whether students’ perceptions matter for their learning? Chapter 7 tells us much about this in its discussion of how differences in what students understand by entrepreneurial opportunity could influence their learning outcomes. In addition, what better way is there to assess entrepreneurial education than to assess the teachers? This is precisely what Chapter 8 does by examining the entrepreneurial understanding and instruction practices of teachers across different levels of education in Finland. It is interesting to note that, in general, the teachers did not appear to be adequately equipped in terms of knowledge, and thus the need for policy intervention is obvious. Moreover, in a culturally diverse economic environment like Europe, it is interesting to know the role that culture plays in clogging or greasing the wheels of entrepreneurship. Chapter 9 offers interesting insights into this: cultural values explain a large amount of the variance in provincial start-up rates in Spain—the more open to change and self-enhancing people are, the better. The final chapter, which sits alone in Part IV of the book, provides a discussion of the need to revive the exploratory methodology in entrepreneurship research. The exploratory approach is described as one that: . . . aims at providing a deeper insight into a given matter . . . Rather than seeking to verify existing theories, theory will emerge from the data. (p. 291)
Admittedly, this kind of approach encourages curiosity and is useful not only in entrepreneurship research but in all research fields. One challenge that ‘explorers’ will have to face, however, is the occasional conservatism in academic publishing that tends to filter out innovative pieces of work. Moreover, if the greatest virtue of exploratory research lies in extending the theoretical frontiers, is it then relevant at all times and in all cases? At least there should be some thoughts—which the authors do not offer—on what characterises grounded theory for which further exploration is unwarranted. Otherwise, we simply end up in a world where we waste a lot of time and resources on repetitive research. Overall, this book represents a well-orchestrated research effort. Predominantly, the individual
Book Reviews contributions included in each part of the book all share the common theme of the part. This is not a mean feat and the editors deserve commendation for that. Although I think the book would be even better with some more diversity: the evidence in about 23% of the book comes from Spain alone, and there was hardly any cross-country analysis. To some extent, this imposes a boundary on the external validity of the policy implications. Notwithstanding, the intellectual rigour and academic quality of all the contributions is appreciable. Putting aside all the concerns raised above, I think the editors have managed to put together a
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very valuable resource. This book is an important addition to the literature, shedding light on the richness and diversity of the entrepreneurship phenomenon. Academics, students and policy-makers will surely find it useful.
Abiodun Egbetokun National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), PMB 012, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria; Email:
[email protected].
