I argue that the difference between  rural entrepreneurship and urban entrepreneurship exists due to the variation of extent and the nature of  firm ownership.  Suggestions are are references are invited.

Upananda

Hi Upananda,

Rural entrepreneurship has got its own set of advantages when seen against urban entrepreneurship. Say like urban entrepreneurship has got better facilities but might be trying to sell something which people might need and didn't realize or hadn't asked for. So the urban entrepreneur has to find the unmet need first but if it's a rural entrepreneurship then the problem lies with only finding the ways to solve the problem but not with identifying the problem. Because in rural setup there are so many clear unmet needs which are clearly visible opportunities to exploit. The only problem is how to exploit. All the entrepreneurs need to do is to be able to solve the problem with the Technical or Managerial abilities that they are holding by themselves or with the team.

Regards,

Sampath.

Hi Upananda,

certainly yes, exite a world of difference between rural and urban entrepreneurship. The difference lies in the structure, Infrastructure and superstructure. which implies THAT ANY business that is in town has a special configuration and to arrange around as competitors with its competent staff on the side of the products. While THAT ANY business that to install in rural areas confonte many difficulties such as: environmental, structural, lack of skilled resources and lower quality products because people who are not going to put the prices on products .drop off window Whence a big difference.

Dear Marie and Sampath,

First it is worthwhile to mention that entrepreneurship is a concept which exclude the ownership of resources (Steven and jarillo, 1988). When considering facts you put forward, majority of them are resources. Then urban and rural entrepreneurship could be differed mainly in wealth creating potentials of opportunities.  This opportunities may vary with the perception of individuals which may nurtured by ownership experience.

Upananda

Dear Colleagues, 

What came to my mind when reading the discussion was the role of social ties and, thus, social capital. The kind of social ties very often differs if we compare urban and rural settings. In rural areas social ties play an important role because very many people know each other for a long time. In urban areas social ties matter as well - but rather differently. People only know a limited set of other persons and are often rather selective in building relationships. As social ties and networks are a vital part of founding businesses, this peculiarity may also be relevant to differ among these two kinds of entrepreneurship. 

Joerg 

Hi Upananda. I strongly believe that you can proof a clear difference between rural and urban entrepreneurs. I would suggest you to explore the scope to study based on the business operation approach. On the INPUT aspect obvious difference  can be validated on the source and quality of business resources (such as materials, financial support and manpower). While on the PROCESS aspect, you can investigate whether any significance difference on the technology capacity and efficiency. Lastly on the OUTPUT aspect, the investigative elements may include the quality of products, customer acceptance of products and the product channel of sales/distribution.

Good luck.

Dear Jorg and Noor,

Thanks for usful comments.

I agree with Jorg whose suggestions are in consistent with North's (1990) theory of Institutions.

I also agree with Noor but changing business operations into entrepreneurial process.

Combining both concepts we could develop a conceptual framework to differentiate urban and rural entrepreneurship.

Since this nature of research is rare , it is best to use theory building approach.  However, I have not gone through research on theory building approach.  Can anyone provide me with such articles and Dubin's approach.

Upananda

Entrepreneurship is same whether Rural or Urban. However in case of Urban the process are consolidated which are easy compared to Rural which is in transient and communication is challenging. This is my view....Reghunatha Menon.K.P

Surely different, although some drivers apply to both (see the survey attached).

i think the difference is not in the principles of entrepreneurship but rather in factors such as the assets base. But in either case, urban areas are more likely to be exposed to technical and skilled resources compared to rural conditions and hence less challenges expected there. 

However, taking it from the point of ownership makes a difference. Whether the enterprise is a public entity or a private entity; and whether it is a multi-national or local is important. This can have a great bearing on many aspects of the firm and the nature of challenges it is likely to face. 

I believe that in a public rural enterprise, the participation of the local community can make a big difference in overcoming most of the challenges.

As the definition, there may not be any difference between these two terms since both are enterpreneurship. However, they may be different in terms of location where business is established, social responsibility and  environment, distance to market, and most importantly the production factors they coordinate. If you think the rural as agriculture, the production factors are the assets and labor force of the enterpreneur him or herself.

I believe that entrepreneurship is quite heterogeneous and this is also the case for rural and urban areas. Thus, it is difficult to make categorical statements about  which of these rather broad types of territories are more conducive to innovation. We find in major urban areas significant sub-areas or neighborhoods where nothing much in term,s of innovation takes place, and the same is true in rural areas.

One of the most complicating factors is the fact that there are so-called rural areas within the urban spheres of influence so that entrepreneurs in some rural areas can take advantage of what the nearby urban agglomeration has to offer. Similarly, we find that there are many urban areas/cities where little in the way of economic development takes place, and while the local cultures may not lead to much innovative behavior, it may also be that other factors make it more difficult for entrepreneurs to engage in innovative behavior.

Finally, some of the most innovative environments are not associated with economic growth but rather economic development. And at the level of financing innovative entrepreneurial ventures, some rural territories can be as innovative as many of the urban territories.

We should perhaps stop talking about differences between rural and urban when it is obvious there is so much heterogeneity in each category.

Chris Bryant

Accessibility to resource is what determines the differences. Alas, this is in turn a function of location:

Some economists would compare the marginal productivity of labor between the two regions (urban-rural) and conclude that the labor productivity (I am taking this as a crude measure of entrepreneurial ability) in the urban region is higher, often attributed to agglomeration economies. However if we stand back and take the traditional core-periphery view of the issue, then we realize that the urban is "enabled" by the rural economic base (for instance with the supply of food and fresh water). Thus the effectiveness and productivity of the urban entrepreneur becomes dependent, and a function of the the productivity of the rural entrepreneur. Depending on the structure of the economy, some countries will be better at this and others will have to strengthen their cross-border ties to establish a strong rural base.

That is why the structure of the economy, the location of the entrepreneurs and the ties that bind the urban-rural sector should be considered as one unit of analysis for any meaningful comparison to be made. In this sense the resource-based view helps by setting up a common ground between the urban and rural.

Dear Upananda,

First of all, we should discuss if there are different attitudes with rural and urban entrepreneurs. We know that the population in urban areas are less and may seem that innovative opportunities are less. Because of that the selling of goods in the rural areas maybe not high and rural entrepreneurs do not get such high revenue to stay in the rural areas.

They become more motivated to replace their business and sell their products.

If people do not buy the product the challenge comes to rural entrepreneurs, because its more difficult to take place on the large market.

Overall, we should discuss that all entrepreneurs should produce high quality and innovative products, because all type of entrepreneurs can do it.