“The Problem of Embeddedness” in Entrepreneurship Studies: A Theoretical Proposition

Abstract

Objective: the paper seeks to investigate the concept of embeddedness and its influence on entrepreneurship studies. Method: the paper is a theoretical essay. It appropriates Granovetter's embeddedness literature and associates it with classical propositions of Karl Polanyi's economic sociology. Reflections related to the structures of reciprocity and redistribution are emphasized. Results: evidence suggests that Granovetter's embeddedness concept ends up not breaking with the utilitarian logic that characterizes the sub-socialized studies in which it criticizes itself. The same is true when the concept is employed by entrepreneurship researchers. Although implicit in the origin of the association between “embeddedness and entrepreneurship” is the notion of the entrepreneur as a network creator, that is, as an agent influenced by the resources derived from the structures in which they are embedded, scholars of the area endorse the interested actor's assumption. Conclusion: the article draws the attention of entrepreneurship scholars to the still unexplored repercussions of other types of social embeddedness (Reciprocity and Redistribution). At the same time, it suggests through "total embeddedness" the creation of a new analytical model, eventually capable of broadening the reflections of scholars about the influences of embeddedness in different structures. The paper concludes with new propositions, highlighting approaches and suggestions for investigations that are still unexplored.

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