Religious entrepreneurship : advancing a distinctive domain

Smith, Brett and Dubarb Barbosa, Saulo and Discua Cruz, Allan and Radu-Lefebvre, Miruna (2026) Religious entrepreneurship : advancing a distinctive domain. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 38 (5-6). pp. 489-500. ISSN 0898-5626

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Abstract

We introduce a distinctive domain of research: religious entrepreneurship, defined as a scholarly field that seeks to understand how, when, and why the discovery, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities to create future goods and services is reciprocally influenced by practices shaped by belief in, and connection to superhuman powers; by whom, and with what consequences. It is dedicated to the investigation of: the role of religion in entrepreneurship (i.e., how religious practices and beliefs shape entrepreneurial action), the role of entrepreneurship in religion (i.e., how entrepreneurship may influence religious practices, beliefs, and connection), the interaction between religious and entrepreneurial processes (i.e., how a process perspective may provide a deeper understanding of the connection between individuals, organizations, institutions, and superhuman powers), and the outcomes of the interaction between religious and entrepreneurial processes (i.e., how consequences of interaction may be pursued and understood). The 15 articles in the special issue on religious entrepreneurship advance knowledge around these questions and attest to the rapidly expanding scope and rigor of research in this domain. They center around four important themes: religious entrepreneurship as: constraining or enabling entrepreneurial action; as identity, meaning, and legitimacy; as social and ethical impact; and as institutional work.