12 Entrepreneurship: A Field of Dreams?

Abstract This paper has two objectives. We begin by contrasting two potential paths for future research in entrepreneurship. One is the establishment of an independent field of research with a clear jurisdiction, a common theoretical canon, and autonomy from related fields. The second is a phenomena‐based approach, in which scholars congregate around common interests in empirical phenomena but approach them with distinct disciplinary lenses. After discussing these alternatives and lobbying for the phenomena‐based approach, we then review some of the recent, discipline‐based research in economic and organizational sociology relevant to entrepreneurship, and identify significant gaps in that literature.