1. Introduction
Entrepreneurs capture or produce change, and thus entrepreneurship is the manifestation of change. In the same way, entrepreneurship and small businesses are regarded as vital sources of jobs, business dynamism and innovation. Scholars continue to discover the factors that explain firm creation with the aim of influencing those that might be able to put these new initiatives into practice to stimulate new business. The conclusions obtained from entrepreneurship research stress multiple dimensions that influence the decision to start up a new business. However, while research has yielded rich results from a personal, economic, institutional and political point of view, the influence of cultural and social factors on enterprise development remains understudied.
This special issue is dedicated to examining the social and cultural factors of entrepreneurial activity. Authors have pointed out the importance of the socio-cultural factors in the final decision to create new businesses (Hofstede, 2001), stating that entrepreneurship is embedded in a social context (Aldrich and Zimmer, 1986), establishing entrepreneurship as a societal phenomenon rather than as a purely economic activity (Steyeart, 2007). Other authors have emphases that entrepreneurial variations could be better understood by considering the social environment where the firm is created, more than the economic variables. Drakopoulou Dodd and Anderson (2007) suggest that while the economic environment may explain some of the variation, any convincing explanation must take account of the differences that lie in the social and cultural aspects of entrepreneurial activity.
We are seeking to include scholarship from multi-disciplinary perspectives including
Institutional Economics (North, 1990) and Economic Sociology (Granovetter, 1985; Fligstein
2001; Thornton, 1999) as possible conceptual frameworks to analyze the influence of sociocultural factors on entrepreneurial activity. Other approaches are welcome in order to overcome the limitations or to complement these perspectives.
In this respect, the special issue will provide a common platform for scholars and practitioners to address the impact of socio-cultural factors on entrepreneurial activity.

References
Aldrich, H.E. and Zimmer, C. (1986) ´Entrepreneurship through Social Networks, in D.
Sexton and R. Smilor (eds.) The Art and Science of Entrepreneurship , pp. 3-23. New
York: Ballinger.
Drakopoulou Dodd, S.D. and Anderson, A.R. (2007) ´Mumpsimus and the Mything of the
Individualistic Entrepreneur´, International Small Business Journal , 25(4): 341-60.
Fligstein, N. (2001) ‘The Architecture of Markets: An Economic Sociology of Twenty-First-
Century Capitalist Societies’, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Granovetter, M. (1985) ‘Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of
Embeddedness’,
American Journal of Sociology 91 (3): 481–510.
Hofstede, G. (2001) Culture's Consequences; Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and
Organizations Across Nations , 2 nd
edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
North, D.C. (1990) Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance . Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Steyaert, C. (2007) ´“Entrepreneurisng” as a Conceptual Attractor? A Review of Process
Theories in 20 Years of Entrepreneurship Studies´, Entrepreneurship & Regional
Development , 19(6): 453-77.
Thornton, P. H. (1999) ‘The Sociology of Entrepreneurship,’ Annual Review of Sociology, 25:
19-46.
2. Topics of Interest
Recommended topic areas to consider for inclusion in this special issue are, but are not limited to, the following:
 Socio-cultural diversity and entrepreneurial activity
 The relationship between cultural factors and business strategies
 Education and entrepreneurship
 Value systems and entrepreneurial values
 Religion and entrepreneurship
 Socio-cultural differences in ethnic entrepreneurship
 The role of socio-cultural factors in intrapreneurship
 Socio-cultural diversity and regional development
 Similarities and differences in the role of socio-cultural factors in SMEs and large corporations
 The role of socio-cultural factors in entrepreneurship in developing countries.
 Institutional economics and entrepreneurship
 Economic sociology and entrepreneurship
 Culture and entrepreneurship from a cross country comparison
 The importance of social context in the entrepreneurial process
3. Proposed Editors
Professor Domingo Ribeiro Soriano
Domingo Ribeiro Soriano is currently professor of management at the University of Valencia,
Spain-Europe. He has publications in international journals and books, and serves as a reviewer for these journals, too. He has been guest editor in the Service Industries Journal
(Taylor & Francis), Small Business Economics (Kluwer/Springer), and Human Resource
Management (Wiley). He is a Full Editor of the International Entrepreneurship and
Management Journal, and Service Business, both journals published by Springer. Finally, he is book review editor for Management Decision (Emerald).

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Professor Patricia H. Thornton
Patricia Thornton is a Professor at Duke University Fuqua School of Business and Visiting at
Stanford University Department of Sociology. She teaches entrepreneurship and new venture management and the social science of entrepreneurship. She is on the editorial boards of
Organization Science and Small Business Economics and is a frequent external reviewer for
ARS, AJS, AMJ, AMR, and ASQ. The focus of her research is on developing and testing theories on the impact of culture and institutional change on organizational decision making, innovation, and entrepreneurship. She is the recipient of the award for best scholarly research article by the OOW section of the American Sociological Association.
Professor David Urbano
David Urbano is currently professor of entrepreneurship at the Autonomous University of
Barcelona, Spain-Europe. He has publications in international journals and serves as a reviewer. He is in the Editorial team of the International Entrepreneurship and Management
Journal. His research is focused on the factors that condition Entrepreneurship in different contexts from the Institutional approach. He has worked as a researcher and teacher for several
Spanish and European universities in other countries.
4. Contributors
The issue will publish theoretical, methodological and empirical studies of small firms from a broad range of disciplines and perspectives, which should act as a guide for academics, policy makers and analysts, in government and business, seeking to understand the sector, trade and business institutions, small business representative bodies and those in support agencies.
Please send electronic submissions (word format) directly to the guest editors: Dr. Domingo
Ribeiro (domingo.ribeiro@uv.es), Dr. Pat Thornton (thornton@duke.edu) or Dr. David
Urbano (david.urbano@uab.es). Prospective authors are welcome to submit an abstract to the guest editor for preliminary feedback on the appropriateness of their planned manuscript.
Please clearly identify your submission in the email subject line “ISBJ-Special Issue”.
5. Review Process
All submissions should follow the general guidelines of the journal. The manuscripts will be peer reviewed according to the journal's general policy; all reviews are double-blind. From this review process 4-5 papers (maximum of 8,000 words per paper) will be selected for the
Special Issue. The Special Issue will also contain an introduction written by the editors.
6. Timescales
Stage Activity Completion Date
Submission of full paper
Feedback from referees
Submission of revised paper
31/1/2009
30/4/2009
30/6/2009
Second round from referees (if applicable)
Submission of final revised paper
Editing and final drafts completed
Sent to the Editor in Chief
Publication date
31/7/2009
30/9/2009
30/10/2009
10/11/2009
Issue 3 (tentative)
2010