Beyond ideal-type depictions of entrepreneurship: some lessons from the service sector in England

Colin Williams

The Service Industries Journal, 2007, vol. 28, issue 7, 1041-1053

Abstract: To evaluate critically the ideal-type depiction of entrepreneurs as wholesome super heroes that permeates the entrepreneurship literature, this paper analyses whether entrepreneurs in the service sector are involved in off-the-books transactions. Reporting data from interviews conducted in England with 91 early-stage entrepreneurs (defined here as individuals starting-up an enterprise in the past 3 years) and 81 more established self-employed in the service sector, the finding is that 77 and 74%, respectively engaged in off-the-books transactions. The outcome is a call to move beyond ideal-type representations of entrepreneurs and towards a fuller comprehension of the lived practices of entrepreneurship.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1080/02642060701846770

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