Debates in Entrepreneurship: Opportunity Formation and Implications for the Field of Entrepreneurship

The field of entrepreneurship has struggled since the 1970 s to define itself as a field and gain legitimacy as a valid academic area of research (Cooper, 2003). Much of the work in entrepreneurship was either theoretical or used the phenomena as a context in which to observe other theories (Alvarez & Barney, 2008). This led to a “land grab” mentality—almost a rapaciousness—regarding entrepreneurship research among many of the established disciplines—economics, sociology, organization behavior, strategy, organization theory—looking for something new to study.