Entrepreneurs are Built, Not Born

Abstract

The question of whether entrepreneurs are born or made is age-old; and it strikes at the heart of economic development questions worldwide. In an increasingly global economy, entrepreneurs play a vital role in economic development, because they create organizations, and these organizations produce jobs, increase trade, and accelerate the generation, application of innovative ideas, and their dissemination (Arzeni, 1998: 18; Bates & Dunham, 1993; McDougall & Oviatt, 1997: 293). On one side of the debate is “characteristics-based” (the born-view) research, which asserts that entrepreneurs posess different innate attributes than do non-entrepreneurs. On the other side of the debate is research that is grounded in social cognition (the made-view), which asserts that differences in entrepreneurs’ attributes can be explained by differences in their way of thinking or expertise. This article briefly summarizes research in both streams, with an emphasis upon an explanation of the relatively newer cognition-based approach.