Uncertainty and Entrepreneurship - Richard J. Arend

Uncertainty and Entrepreneurship is a two-part literature review. Part I provides the objective facts supplementing the raw data taken directly from the papers reviewed with several necessary and preliminary contextual cues - definitions of key terms; the foundations of key concepts; and why it is important to review this literature on uncertainty specifically. The author also supplements the raw data with basic summaries - details on the process and on the quantified outcomes of the review. Part II provides the subjective analysis explaining the value of providing a scholarly interpretation of the review's raw data. The author interprets the raw data summaries (e.g., over uncertainty definitions, types, measures, sources and treatments) in terms of what they mean for the field of entrepreneurship, speaking to the relevance of the past research on uncertainty and its evolution in entrepreneurship and beyond including theoretical and managerial implications. The monograph explains how the misrepresentation of uncertainty has tarnished most of the recent partial theorizing in the field. As a result, the author recommends a change of direction in entrepreneurship theorizing and concludes the two-part assessment of this literature with a call to action.