TY - JOUR

T1 - A qualitative approach to evidence-based entrepreneurship: Theoretical considerations and an example involving business clusters

AU - Rauch, Andreas

AU - van Doorn, R.

AU - Hulsink, W.

PY - 2014/3

Y1 - 2014/3

N2 - Most research in evidence-based entrepreneurship builds on quantitative designs, which is unfortunate because qualitative studies provide a unique contribution to the domain of entrepreneurship. They look at distinctive phenomena in their specific time period and context in one way or another, and can help generate and test new theories. We, therefore, suggest using a systematic synthesis of case studies to aggregate the findings of qualitative research. Moreover, as a first step, we developed an example to demonstrate how this approach can advance evidence-based entrepreneurship. Specifically, we synthesized 13 cases to examine how business clusters increase the performance of firms within clusters.

AB - Most research in evidence-based entrepreneurship builds on quantitative designs, which is unfortunate because qualitative studies provide a unique contribution to the domain of entrepreneurship. They look at distinctive phenomena in their specific time period and context in one way or another, and can help generate and test new theories. We, therefore, suggest using a systematic synthesis of case studies to aggregate the findings of qualitative research. Moreover, as a first step, we developed an example to demonstrate how this approach can advance evidence-based entrepreneurship. Specifically, we synthesized 13 cases to examine how business clusters increase the performance of firms within clusters.

KW - Entrepreneurship

U2 - 10.1111/etap.12093

DO - 10.1111/etap.12093

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 38

SP - 333

EP - 368

JO - Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

JF - Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice

SN - 1042-2587

IS - 2

ER -