Introduction
The biological perspective on entrepreneurship is an understudied topic that has only begun to grow in the scientific community in recent years. Nofal et al. decided to explore in which way biological factors link to entrepreneurship and how the former affects the latter. They systematically analyzed academic works that explore the linkage between entrepreneurship and aspects of biology, such as “genetics, physiology, and neuroscience” (Nofal et al., 2021, p. 61). The authors mention that their primary methodology was a review strategy (Nofal et al., 2021). They found that genetics explains 42% to 48% of the variance in entrepreneurship (Nofal et al., 2021). They also discovered that testosterone, cortisol, and epinephrine are highly associated with self-employment (Nofal et al., 2021). The authors describe that entrepreneurs make decisions more efficiently and are more inclined to explore.
Moreover, the mental connection between the entrepreneur and the venture is similar to that of a parent and a child (Nofal et al., 2021). The article’s authors also offer readers four hypotheses of how biology affects specific actions related to entrepreneurship. They also discuss the presented systematic review and topics for future research.
Gaps in the Literature
As noted above, the biological perspective in entrepreneurship theory is still a new topic, which has only recently begun to be addressed. Nofal et al. (2021) try to fill these gaps in the biological entrepreneurship theory by summarizing and organizing a large amount of data from other scientific papers. It is important to note that the article also partially covers the topic of biological theory in management.
Interesting Facts and Stimulating Ideas
In the article, Nofal et al. presented some interesting ideas and facts. For example, one such point is that “a single nucleotide polymorphism in the dopamine receptor genes to be associated with entrepreneurship using a candidate-gene study” (Nofal et al., 2021, p. 65). The researchers also presented a stimulating idea regarding the mechanisms of how biology relates to entrepreneurship. According to Nofal et al. (2021), “biology may moderate the relationship between environmental factors and the tendency to engage in entrepreneurship” (p. 70). Combining biological and social approaches may become a practical methodology for researching entrepreneurship. The same theoretical framework already exists in psychology and is called behaviorism.
Concerns with the Claims
There is one major concern about the claims presented in the systematic review by Nofal et al. It is a bias against genome-wide association studies (GWAS). It is essential to note that the authors substantiated and explained their skepticism toward this research method and even suggested how to correct the data obtained by this approach (Nofal et al., 2021). It seems that authors are more likely to trust data from candidate gene studies that are irreproducible than data from GWAS. It partially contradicts the scientific method, which gives rise to concerns about the objectivity of the information and conclusions presented in the article.
Similarities Reported in the Literature
Other studies support the fourth hypothesis about the mechanisms of connection between biological and entrepreneurial theories, namely that the interaction of biological factors influences entrepreneurial activity. One such research is an article by Rietveld et al. They argue that “the genetic architecture of entrepreneurship may contain interactions between two or more genetic variants “(Rietveld et al., 2020, p. 10). Therefore, this statement supports the evidence presented in the work by Nofal et al.
Future Research Directions
Researchers discuss the topic of future research comprehensively. The authors conclude that more empirical research is needed on narrowly focused topics of the relation between biology and entrepreneurship. They are, for example, “the influence of biology on entrepreneurial biases, entrepreneurs’ thinking styles, and their fear of failure” (Nofal et al., 2021, p. 70). They also argue that other types of genes and hormones need to be examined in relation to entrepreneurial activity and behavior. The authors specify that these hormones are dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin (Nofal et al., 2021). The neural correlates of entrepreneurship are another topic for future research mentioned by researchers.
Other Works on the Same Topic
Among the works examining entrepreneurship from the perspective of biological theory, it is worth highlighting the article by Rietveld et al. In their scientific work, the authors analyze the heritability of entrepreneurship (Rietveld et al., 2020). Researchers conclude that, until now, all attempts to identify specific genetic patterns responsible for entrepreneurship have failed (Rietveld et al., 2020). However, they are confident that eventually, the entrepreneurship gene will be found.
Conclusion
In this paper, a systematic review of an academic article about biology and entrepreneurship by Nofal et al. was conducted. Such points of the work as gaps in the literature, stimulating ideas, concerns with the claims, similarities in the related literature, and future research directions were discussed. It is worth noting that the themes of entrepreneurship and innovation are close. Their similarity lies in the fact that the person either starts, introduces, or implements something in both cases. The difference is that innovation always implies something completely new, while entrepreneurship can be about something new or something that has already been done.
References
Nofal, A. M., Nicolaou, N., & Shane, S. (2021). The biology of entrepreneurship. In M. M. Gielnik, M. S. Cardon, & M. Frese (Eds.), The psychology of entrepreneurship: New perspectives (pp. 60-79). Routledge.
Rietveld, C. A., Slob, E. A., & Thurik, A. R. (2020). A decade of research on the genetics of entrepreneurship: A review and view ahead.Small Business Economics, 1-15. Web.