Entrepreneurship and extreme poverty: mysteries before puzzles

Christopher Sutter and Garry D. Bruton

Chapter 13 in Handbook of Research on Base of the Pyramid Entrepreneurship, 2026, pp 234-244 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In this chapter we distinguish between mysteries – fundamental questions related to values – and puzzles – stylized problems that lend themselves to a technical solution. Our argument is that entrepreneurship scholars examining poverty and entrepreneurship often seek to solve puzzles without fully exploring the mysteries inherent in such an effort. The result is a relatively simplistic perspective on poverty and entrepreneurship. Instead, we urge scholars to embed themselves in the research setting and interrogate their own values and assumptions during the research process. We argue that scholars who do so are more likely to develop more relevant indigenous theory and richer insights. Such a consideration of mysteries is also likely to move scholars away from seeing extreme poverty as an abstract clinical setting and towards embracing the goal of helping those who live in extreme poverty to improve their lives.

Keywords: BOP Entrepreneurship; Poverty; Mysteries; Puzzles; Theory Development; Indigenous Theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781802202137
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