Foreword: A Lens for Law and Entrepreneurship

Ohio State Entrepreneurial Business Law Journal, Vol. 6, p. 1, 2011

19 Pages Posted: 29 Mar 2012

See all articles by Benjamin Means

Benjamin Means

University of South Carolina School of Law

Date Written: 2011

Abstract

This Foreword identifies a tension between two definitions of law and entrepreneurship. On the one hand, law and entrepreneurship may simply describe the legal rules applicable to the financing, governance, and intellectual property of small-business start ups. On the other hand, some scholars define law and entrepreneurship as a field organized around a central question: the law's role in facilitating innovation. Rather than debate the boundaries of law and entrepreneurship as a field, I use the metaphor of a lens to contend that law and entrepreneurship should be understood more as a perspective than as a subject of inquiry. Scholars need not restrict their focus to small-business creation and can explore how law and innovation relate in a wide variety of contexts. Thus, the value of law and entrepreneurship does not depend upon the successful construction of a notional, separate space where entrepreneurial issues arise.

Keywords: law and entrepreneurship, small business, innovation, metaphor

Suggested Citation

Means, Benjamin, Foreword: A Lens for Law and Entrepreneurship (2011). Ohio State Entrepreneurial Business Law Journal, Vol. 6, p. 1, 2011 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2029864

Benjamin Means (Contact Author)

University of South Carolina School of Law ( email )

1525 Senate Street, Room 314
Columbia, SC 29208
United States
(803) 777-3616 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/law/faculty_and_staff/directory/means_benjamin.php

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