Intrapreneurship versus entrepreneurship in high and low income countries

Cross-country comparative studies on independent new businesses (Arenius and Minniti 2005, Bowen and De Clercq 2008, Koellinger 2008, Stephan and Uhlaner 2010, Terjesen et al. 2013, Wennekers et al. 2005) and studies on new business development within existing organizations (Pinchot 1985, Kanter 1988, Lumpkin and Dess 1996, Kuratko 2007) have developed along separate paths in business and management studies. Entrepreneurial behaviour within existing firms (intrapreneurship) has remained beyond the bounds of empirical research on national variations in entrepreneurship, because comparable data on intrapreneurship has not been available until now. This means that the study of the effects of the national environment on the individual level trade-off between new business creation and intrapreneurship has been off the map of academic research. This lack of insight into intrapreneurship at the national level creates the risk of reaching conclusions on the prevalence and causes of entrepreneurship that are based only on a limited part of this phenomenon. It might also lead to misplaced interpretations about the effect of national level economic development and institutions on entrepreneurship, and to ill-guided policy recommendations regarding entrepreneurship. This chapter provides some first cross-national evidence on the prevalence of intrapreneurship, based on a unique empirical investigation in which eleven countries across a wide range of economic development levels participated. It makes two distinct contributions to the literature.