Entrepreneurship in superdiverse societies and the end of one-size-fits-all policy prescriptions

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the entrepreneurial and policy consequences of the structural changes associated with postindustrialization. Design/methodology/approach: The approach uses Schumpeterian and institutional theories to predict the consequences of postindustrialization on four types of innovative markets: global mass markets; global niche markets; local mass markets and local niche markets. Findings: The paper makes two key predictions. First, global mass markets will account for most cost-cutting process innovations. Second, niche markets, whether global or local, will provide the bulk of product innovations. Opportunities for product innovations in niche markets multiply both as the result of a more complex economy and as the result of heterogeneous preferences of consumers with divergent learning trajectories. Social implications: The key implication of the theoretical pattern prediction of this paper is that there are increasing opportunities for entrepreneurs to introduce novelties that cater to niche demands, and this includes new lifestyle communities. The increasing diversity of values and preferences implies that one-size-fit-all policies are becoming increasingly inimical to the entrepreneurial discovery of higher-valued resource uses. Originality/value: This paper takes a standard prediction of entrepreneurial theories – that innovations become more common with an increase in economy-wide product complexity – and extends this to increasing complexity on the consumption side. With increases in opportunities for learning, consumers diverge and develop disparate lifestyles. The resultant super-diversity, which multiplies consumption niches to a much greater extent than what ethnicity-based diversity indices would imply, makes it more difficult to achieve consensus about the desirability of public policies.