The Theoretical Foundations of Entrepreneurship: Analysis of Approaches and Entrepreneurial Intention

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is a complex socio-economic phenomenon at the heart of business creation, innovation and economic development. Despite abundant research, literature remains fragmented across several theoretical approaches (functional, descriptive, behavioural and process-based) without an integrative synthesis enabling a comprehensive understanding of entrepreneurial intention formation. This article aims to chronologically and comparatively analyse the fundamental approaches to entrepreneurship, paying particular attention to entrepreneurial intention models and their theoretical grounding. Based on a theoretical and retrospective literature review drawing on the foundational works of Cantillon, Schumpeter, Gartner, Ajzen, Shapero, Bird, and Krueger et al., the article adopts an analytical and dialectical approach.Results show that each approach provides specific insights into the entrepreneur and their environment, and that entrepreneurial intention sits at the crossroads of these perspectives, articulating psychological, social and contextual variables. The article proposes an integrative synthesis of theoretical approaches and intention models, contributing to a better understanding of the entrepreneurial process and offering avenues for future research and public policy support.

JEL Classification : L26 ; M13

Paper Type : Theoretical Literature Review