Rethinking entrepreneurship in causally entangled crises: A poly-crisis perspective

• Published in: Journal of business venturing Vol. 40; no. 1; p. 106459
• Main Authors: Klyver, Kim, McMullen, Jeffery S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-01-2025
• Subjects: Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Equilibrium; Hope; Self-efficacy; Uncertainty; Uncertainty; Equilibrium; Entrepreneurship; Hope; Self-efficacy; Crisis
• ISSN: 0883-9026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2024.106459

Over the last few years, the world has witnessed the emergence of a poly-crisis era in which overlapping, causally entangled crises, such as pandemics, war, inflation, natural disasters, etc. converge to challenge assumptions of societal stability upon which much of the field's knowledge base has been developed over the last few decades. In this editorial, we propose a poly-crisis perspective to entrepreneurship and compare it with entrepreneurship under both normal times and a single crisis. In doing so, we highlight the need to reexamine the boundary conditions of our models and to propose some questions, constructs, and methods that deserve increased attention in a world where institutional uncertainty is the rule rather than the exception.
•Introduces the concept of poly-crisis wherein institutional instability is the norm.•Compares a poly-crisis perspective to entrepreneurship under both normal times and a single crisis.•Highlights the need to reexamine the boundary conditions of existing models under conditions of a poly-crisis.•Proposes some questions, constructs, and methods that deserve increased attention under conditions of a poly-crisis.