How should we measure indigenous entrepreneurship? A search for explanatory variables

In Canada and elsewhere around the world Indigenous Peoples are struggling to rebuild their &lsquo;nations&rsquo; and improve the socioeconomic circumstances of their people. We are embarking on a program of research in an effort to understand this phenomenon and to inform the process. In this paper we (i) explore the approach to development being adopted by Indigenous people in Canada; (ii) conduct a preliminary literature review; (iii) identify input indicators of entrepreneurship and business development capacity, process measures of development activity and an output indicator of development effectiveness and (v) identify the information available from secondary sources relating to these indicators and the gaps in information that will have to be filled by primary research.<br /

Indigenous land claims and economic development : the Canadian experience

This paper examines the role that Indigenous people’s rights to land and resources pay in business and economic development in Canada and elsewhere. It does this in four parts. The first provides background information about the socioeconomic circumstances of Aboriginal1 people in Canada, and about their response and the response of the Canadian government to these circumstances. The second is a brief discussion of development theory. The third looks at the impact of a particular Aboriginal land claims settlement on the economic development activities of the Aboriginal people involved. The final section presents some concluding comments about the experience of Indigenous people in Canada and the relevance of this experience elsewhere in the world

Understanding success in indigenous entrepreneurship : an exploratory investigation

In Canada there are numerous studies about indigenous Entrepreneurship, most descriptive with little theory development or testing, This leaves a gap in the information available to researchers, policy makers and practitioners. In this paper we describe a research program intended to address this gap beginning with the activities of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, considered an exemplar of successful indigenous entrepreneurship. From these activities, we draw propositions about indigenous entrepreneurship that are compatible with generic theory. Finally, we describe how we will move from these propositions to a model of indigenous entrepreneurship using grounded theory and structural equation modelling.<br /

Fostering Indigenous entrepreneurship : A case study of the Membertou First Nation, Nova Scotia, Canada

What are the important factors that foster an environment for investment and entrepreneurship in Indigenous1 communities? Can these fostering factors, and those that hinder investment and entrepreneurship, be identified and generalized across communities and diverse cultures? If so, can the conditions that have been created within successful Canadian Indigenous communities, communities that foster the development and growth of entrepreneurial ventures, be recreated by other Indigenous nations? These questions form a small part of a research project being undertaken by the authors to explore Indigenous entrepreneurship in search of insight into the questions—what is Indigenous entrepreneurship, why do certain communities succeed at it, and what can be generalized from the success of certain successful Canadian Indigenous communities

An empirically justified theory of successful indigenous entrepreneurship : a case study of the Osoyoos Indian Band

The Osoyoos Indian Band case study signals the beginning of a PhD research project that will take approximately three years to complete. Taken in isolation, the objectives for the Osoyoos case study are modest. We want to refine our theoretical model and improve the case study protocol before embarking on a set of 5 case studies to explore Indigenous entrepreneurship; what it is, what communities do to succeed and a generalized definition of a successful venture from an Indigenous Canadian perspective.<br /

Relating practice to theory in indigenous entrepreneurship : a pilot investigation of the Kitsaki partnership portfolio

In Canada and elsewhere around the world, Indigenous Peoples are struggling to rebuild their &quot;nations&quot; and improve the socioeconomic circumstances of their people. Many see economic development as the key to success. This is certainly true for Indigenous people in Canada (the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit, collectively called Aboriginal or Indigenous people). Among them, participation in the global economy through entrepreneurship and business development is widely accepted as the key to economy building and nation &quot;re-building.&quot; As elaborated in the next section, the demand is that this participation must be on their own terms for their own purposes, and traditional lands, history, culture, and values play a critical role. There is an intriguing symmetry between the modernity of the desire for global business competence and competitiveness and the insistence upon the distinctive importance of cultural heritage in developing new enterprise. The way that the two superficially contrasting concepts of innovation and heritage are combined in the field of Indigenous entrepreneurship has been expounded by Hindle and Lansdowne.1Recognizing the challenges they face in attempting to compete in the global economy on their own terms, Indigenous people are increasingly developing enterprises in the form of partnerships of all types among themselves and with non-Indigenous enterprises. As both a form and a context of business organization, the partnership or alliance model is particularly fraught with the need to blend the old with the new, heritage with innovation. This study is a preliminary investigation of the Kitsaki initiative of the Lac La Ronge Indian band. In it we: * explore several ventures involved in the partnership, asking key operatives for their opinions about the factors that explain success and failure; * distill the explanations into as few, all-embracing factors as possible; * relate the findings to the emerging theory of Indigenous entrepreneurship, with particular reference to the suggested paradigm of Indigenous entrepreneurship developed by Hindle and Lansdowne (2002); * project the results of the investigation into suggestions for a more structured program of future research.<br /

Strategic alliances, partnership, and joint ventures

International audienc

Toward a better understanding of Aboriginal / Indigenous rights and their impact on development: an application of regulation theory

International audienceThis paper explores the relationship between business, society and the developmental aspirations of Indigenous people, whose communities are among the poorest and most marginalized in the world; it explores the emergence, evolution and growing importance of the role that Indigenous rights play in the development of these communities. To do so, the authors examine the interrelationship between Indigenous rights, social capital and entrepreneurial activity. Using regulation theory, we develop several propositions to argue that these conceptual areas can come together to provide insight on how modes of social regulation may be crucial to understanding the pathways available for participation in the global regime of accumulation. The result can be the emergence of a particular mode of development that is aligned with the outcomes sought by the community. From these propositions, the authors argue that the modes of development available are dependent upon multiple levels of societal structures where the degree of localization in the modes of social regulation is central in determining the objectives as well as significant to achieving them