French Touch in the Development of Entrepreneurship Research: A Review of French Research in the Development of Entrepreneurship

Abstract

Even if it is not necessary to make a comparison between the Anglo-Saxon and Francophone works in entrepreneurship, the fact remains that the latters have made and shown a considerable dynamism of scientific productivity since soon three decades. According to Katz (2003), growth in entrepreneurship research has reached the peak of its maturity in the United States and he hopes that this growth will continue outside the United States. Indeed, this growth continues in France, where researchers show more and more craze to conduct research in entrepreneurship. This craze can be verified through the number of theses defended which grows from year to year but also by the productions and scientific events more and more numerous (Fayolle et al., 2011). According to Bruyat (1993, p.3), research on business creation in France began to arouse interest only at the end of the Thirty Glorious Years. That is why Paturel et al. (2001) and Saporta (2003) conclude that the field of entrepreneurial research in France is relatively young. Indeed, studying entrepreneurship as an academic field in Business, the French-speaking world in general, and France in particular have lagged behind for a while. This delay is being caught up through serious research in French Universities with more and more original methodology of research different from the Anglo-Saxons ones. The purpose of our communication is to show the singularity of French research in entrepreneurship and how their growing work is paving the way toward a “French School of Entrepreneurship”.