RESEARCH ON ENTREPRENEURIAL ALERTNESS - SAMPLING, MEASUREMENT, AND THEORETICAL ISSUES

In taking an economic and behavioral approach, Kaish and Gilad (1991) recently tested Kirzner's (1973) theory of alertness which asserts tha t entrepreneurs are more alert to new opportunities and use informatio n differently. Because of the lack of generalizable samples and the ex ploratory nature of the Kaish and Gilad study, this research replicate d and further developed some of the scales originally developed by the m. The results indicate that little empirical support exists for this theoretical framework, but the measures of entrepreneurial alertness n eed further development. Empirical and theoretical implications are di scussed along with the roles of exploratory and replication research i n a vibrant discipline like entrepreneurship.