ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the progression of theory in social science is fragile and discusses the attempts to build new partial theory in entrepreneurship. Capitalism is a virtuous cycle fueled by the reinvestment of profits into entrepreneurial activity – an activity that promises to increase profits – where a part of that increase in profits is reinvested. The entrepreneur faces some level of uncertainty that necessarily comes from newness and from the changes that are supposed to lead to the increase in profitability. Consider the heterogeneity captured in the form most commonly associated with human entrepreneurial activity – the differential advantage of a new venturerelative to an incumbent. The entrepreneur faces some level of uncertainty that necessarily comes from newness and from the changes that are supposed to lead to the increase in profitability. Prior to testing the newness of proposed partial theories, it is useful to describe the main approaches for explaining phenomena used in the social sciences.
