The process of freedom in entrepreneurship and poverty

Abstract

There has been an expansion of research examining the relationship between poverty and entrepreneurship, but with limited discussion in Journal of Business Venturing Insights over the last 10 years. Understanding how entrepreneurs develop the freedom to pursue business opportunities is intuitively a crucial part of this topic discussion. This paper argues that the capacity to control the decision-making process is of equal importance. Building on the human development perspective and the Capabilities Approach, the paper goes deeper into Sen's notion of opportunity and process freedom to emphasise the need for autonomy, mastery, competence and self-reflection alongside the opportunities available to entrepreneurs in contexts of poverty. The paper concludes by suggesting a path forward around entrepreneurial imaginativeness, self-reflection, and goals and values.