Introduction to the Handbook of Quantitative Research Methods in Entrepreneurship

Abstract

The availability of economic, financial, and business data, and their use in empirical scientific entrepreneurship research, has increased significantly in recent decades. The ever-increasing number of researchers looking for answers to important scientific questions, usually followed by political implications that shape people, firms, and societies, and the use of econometrics and statistics as a means of analysing different forms of data, make it increasingly necessary to provide a handbook that can act as an information guide for quantitative analysts and those interested in quantitative entrepreneurship research. However, it is a rather difficult task to produce a handbook that contains all the methodologies and ongoing discussions about quantitative research and methods in entrepreneurship. Any such quantitative work should be approached with thoughtful statistical analysis together with a full understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the methods and data employed, and should thus be able to analyse the contribution to, and challenges imposed for, future research. Hence, this handbook cannot replace important technical econometrics and statistical textbooks, as well as research articles that the quantitative entrepreneurship analyst should read and/or consult. This handbook, in contrast, focuses on a number of important empirical issues related to entrepreneurship and should assist and be considered as a complementary resource for those who wish to pursue empirical work in the entrepreneurship field. Specifically, this handbook represents the combined research efforts of 31 scholars of international standing and repute in the field of entrepreneurship; or put another way, the combined knowledge of over 1,000 people years spanning some 17 countries across the globe. Given the breadth of subjects covered, we believe that it has wide appeal and relevance, and can be read on several levels. For undergraduate students, it can be an informative and easily accessible introduction to a wide range of subjects related to the phenomenon that is entrepreneurship.