Annual meeting of the Business History Conference - Entrepreneurial Communities

The theme for the conference is "Entrepreneurial Communities," defined broadly in scope and scale. The entrepreneur is often thought of as a lone innovator, but how often does an entrepreneur really act alone? How and when does entrepreneurial activity rely on the input of inventors, venture capitalists, lawyers, accountants, marketing specialists, government actors, laborers, and others? We are interested in papers that explore the roles of these actors and the broader social context in which entrepreneurial activity takes place. These include, but are not limited to, geographic (local, regional, national, or international), political, economic, social, and cultural (including the roles of race, class, ethnicity, religion, and gender) aspects of entrepreneurial communities. We are interested in papers that consider how firms and other groups (within, between, or outside particular firms) and society as a whole have organized themselves to foster or inhibit entrepreneurial activity.