ABSTRACT
Information processing by entrepreneurs has been investigated by economists since Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’. In modern times it has been associated with problem solving and decision making (Simon 1967a, 1967b, 1991), innovation (Schumpeter 1934), opportunity recognition and the entrepreneur’s alertness (Kirzner 1979). Whereas Schumpeterian opportunities require new information and are innovative, Kirznerian opportunities may not require new information and are less innovative. The work of both authors can add substantial nuances to Shane’s interpretation (Shane 2003) of how they defi ne opportunity based on market disequilibrium but not to the nature of the required information to reduce information asymmetry in it. Noteboom’s (2000) entrepreneurial innovation is both Schumpeterian in that it creates forms that did not exist before and Kirznerian in that uncertainty is reduced and gaps between actual and possible use are lessened.
