An entrepreneurial journey: reflecting on “me-search,” “we-search,” and the non-WEIRD

Dean A. Shepherd ()
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Dean A. Shepherd: University of Notre Dame

Small Business Economics, 2025, vol. 65, issue 2, No 3, 757-761

Abstract: Abstract In this presentation, accepting the Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research, I highlight the importance of me-search and we-search in generating research opportunities. I highlight how me-search provided the experiences and motivation for me to explore how (1) entrepreneurs can regulate their grief over business failure to learn from the experience, and (2) locals to a disaster can instantaneously create new ventures without any profit motive (or commercial logic) to alleviate the suffering of others. I also highlight how we-search provided the experiences and motivation for me to explore how (3) entrepreneurship can help individuals navigate chronic adversity, and (4) local scholars can substantially contribute to the field by exploring entrepreneurship in non-WEIRD contexts. I hope that other scholars generate research ideas through me-search and we-search, especially when these processes lead to published entrepreneurship research in non-WEIRD contexts because this is where, I believe, there are many opportunities to advance our understanding of entrepreneurial phenomena.

Keywords: Business failure; Chronic adversity; Disasters; Non-WEIRD; Re-search; Resilience; We-search (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I22 I24 I32 J15 J16 J17 J24 J62 J71 L26 L31 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s11187-025-01085-4

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