The Nature of the Entrepreneurship Process: Causation, Effectuation, and Pragmatism

This chapter is an appreciation of and a critical reflection on Sarasvathy's work on the causation and effectuation models of entrepreneurship. While Sarasvathy has made significant contributions to the field, it is suggested that more fruitful results can be achieved if two modifications are made. First, it is argued that the six dimensions on which the two models differ are independent and therefore it is more fruitful to focus on the dimensions rather than on the two models. Second, it is argued that a pragmatic view of entrepreneurship is most fruitful when it is not applied at the level of the entrepreneurial process, but at the level of underlying human actions.