The nature and focus of entrepreneurship research in France over the last decade: a French touch?

1996-2005 Journal articles Total ENT/SME RIPME 153 30/123 RENT 17 17/0 Total articles 170 47/123

1996-2005 Conference papers Total ENT/SME CIFEPME 312 70/242 AE 136 136/0 Total papers 448 206/242 Total articles and papers 618 253/365 ENT, entrepreneurship studies; SME, small business studies; RIPME, Revue Internationale PME; RENT, Revue de l'Entrepreneuriat; AE, Academie de l'Entrepreneuriat. Table 3 Classifying the Focus of Entrepreneurial Research Theme Issues 1. Theoretical antecedents, Description of entrepreneurs;

entrepreneurship theory entrepreneurs' personalities,

backgrounds early experiences;

behavioral aspects of

entrepreneurs; cognitive process

in decision making; entrepreneurial

cognition; individual decision-

making process; heuristics adopted

by entrepreneurs; level of

uncertainty, etc. 2. Types of entrepreneurs Nascent; novice; habitual; serial;

portfolio; entrepreneurial teams,

etc. 3. Entrepreneurial process Opportunity recognition and

(opportunity recognition information search (knowledge,

and information search; information, cognitive,

resource acquisition and behavioral differences between

business strategies) individuals); cognitive behavior of

entrepreneurs; networks as

important aspect of the context and

process of entrepreneurship (social

and business networks; formal

networks); resource acquisition and

business strategies; resource-based

theory; resources and assets, etc. 4. Organizational forms Corporate venturing/entrepreneurship

selected by entrepreneurs and intrapreneurship; purchase of

existing organizations by transfer

of ownership (management buy-outs/

buy-ins and franchising);

inheritance of existing

organizations (family firms), etc. 5. External environments for Relationship between environmental

entrepreneurship conditions and new venture

creation/business survival/business

closure/performance/competitive

strategies of organizations;

environmental conditions conducive

for entrepreneurship, etc. 6. Outcomes Firm-level survival or financial

performance; performance of the

entrepreneur and firm exit issues;

objective (financial and

non-financial) and subjective

(personal expectations, aspirations,

skills) criteria to measure

firm-level growth and performance;

influence on outcomes of different

types of organizations/

entrepreneurs, etc. Source: Adapted from Ucbasaran et al. (2001). Table 4 University Clusters of Doctoral Entrepreneurship Research (PhDs)

Number of PhD University dissertations Grenoble II 7 Lille I 6 Toulon-Var 5 Montpellier I 4 Lyon II, Lyon III 3 Aix-Marseille, U. du Littoral, Orleans, 2

Paris I, Paris Dauphine IX, Poitiers Bordeaux I, Bordeaux IV, ENS Cachan, Caen, 1

Corte, Lille II, ENSA Montpellier,

Nantes, Nice Sophia Antipolis (& Bocconi),

ENSA Paris, IEP Paris, Rouen, U. de Savoie Note: In general, only public universities deliver the doctorate in France. This spatial pattern of doctoral research excludes other research centers and business schools where entrepreneurship research takes place. Table 5 Research Issues in French Dissertations Topics ([dagger]) 1. Craft industry 2. Project management and conception 3. Entrepreneurial intention: influence of education;

entrepreneurial attitude of public researchers 4. Management styles of entrepreneurs: management systems in

agricultural exploitations 5. Spin-offs from industry and academia 6. Micro-financing of new organizations 7. Performance (including failure): failure risks of start-ups:

the role of environmental variables on the relationship

"entrepreneurial orientation-performance" 8. Environment (including aids and public supports): culture and

entrepreneurial activity 9. Acquisitions (MBI/MBO) 10. Emergence of new organizations 11. Social entrepreneurship 12. Informal entrepreneurship 13. The entrepreneur ([dagger]) Identified in the 22 reviewed PhD dissertations by order of frequency (translation by the authors). Source: Adapted from Paturel (2004, p. 59). MBI, management buy-in; MBO, management buy-out. Table 6 The Thematic Focus of Entrepreneurship Research in France

Theme 1 Theme 2 Theme 3 Type Antecedents (%) Entrepreneur (%) Process (%) Articles (n = 47) 10.6 4.3 40.4 Papers (n = 206) 19.9 16.5 33.5

18.6 14.2 22.5

Theme 4 Theme 5 Theme 6 Type Organization (%) Environment (%) Outcome (%) Articles (n = 47) 23.4 8.5 2.1 Papers (n = 206) 12.1 15.0 1.5 Total (n = 253) 14.2 13.8 1.6 Type Other (%) Articles (n = 47) 10.6 Papers (n = 206) 1.5 Total (n = 253) 3.2 Table 7 Journal Articles in JBV, ETP, and ERD of Scholars with Affiliation in French Universities or Business Schools Journal, year, volume (issue) Author(s) ERD, 2003, 15 (4) Corolleur F. (2) & Courlet C. (2) ERD, 2003, 15 (1) Requier-Desjardins D. (6), Boucher F. &

Cerdan C. (7) ERD, 2003, 15 (l) Lechner C. (8) & Dowling M. JBV, 2002, 17 (4) Manigart S., De Waelea K., Wright M.,

Robbie K., JBV, 2001, 16 (5) Durand R. (3) & Coeurderoy R. JBV, 2001, 16 (2) Bruyat C. (2) & Julien P.A. ERD, 2001, 13 (4) Evans D. (3) & Volery T. (3) ETP, 1997, 21 (Summer) Leleux B. & Muzyka D. (1) ETP, 1997, 21 (Summer) Manigart S., Wright M., Robbie K.

Desbrieres P. (4), & de Waele K. JBV, 1996, 11 (4) Muzyka D. (1), Birley S., & Leleux B. JBV, 1995, 10 (6) Badguerahanian L. (5) & Abetti P.A. ETP, 1995, 19 (Fall) Dana L.-P. (9) ETP 1995, 19 (Summer) Birley S., Muzyka D. (1), Dove C., &

Rossel G. (1) Journal, year, volume (issue) Key words ERD, 2003, 15 (4) Industrial district, uncertainty, markets,

Marshall, rationality ERD, 2003, 15 (1) Food commodity chains, clusters, Latin

America, collective action, product

typicity ERD, 2003, 15 (l) Networking, inter-firm networks,

entrepreneurship, growth management,

firm, development JBV, 2002, 17 (4) Venture capital, required return,

diversification, specialization JBV, 2001, 16 (5) Strategic management, organizational

behavior, Performance evaluation JBV, 2001, 16 (2) Research in entrepreneurship ERD, 2001, 13 (4) Entrepreneurship, online services, business

services, consulting, training, networking ETP, 1997, 21 (Summer) Europe, IPO markets, post-issue performance ETP, 1997, 21 (Summer) Venture capital, investment, Europe,

empirical study JBV, 1996, 11 (4) Venture capital companies, studies,

statistical analysis, market research,