2024 Robert Baron and Michael Frese

OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY
ASIA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND LEUPHANA UNIVERSITY OF LUENEBURG

For expanding the psychological foundations of entrepreneurship and enabling a vibrant stream of evidence-based research on the micro-foundations of entrepreneurship.

Motivation

Professor Robert Baron and Professor Michael Frese have spearheaded groundbreaking research aimed at answering a set of fundamental questions about human psychology and entrepreneurship. Through collaboration and the adoption of different approaches to psychology, they have set out to answer pivotal questions in the domain of entrepreneurship research. These questions include why certain individuals decide to engage in entrepreneurship while others do not; how they recognize, assess, and act upon new opportunities; and what factors contribute to varying degrees of success in pursuing these opportunities.

Professor Baron’s work has been instrumental in establishing the theoretical linkages between findings from socio-cognitive psychology and entrepreneurship. His work delves into understanding the factors that determine who becomes an entrepreneur, elucidating the motivations behind entrepreneurial behavior, and exploring the cognitive and social psychology mechanisms that foster entrepreneurial success. Some of his most significant contributions concern the nature and role of pattern identification in the entrepreneurial opportunity recognition process, and how a set of heuristics, cognitive biases, and psychological states can have both positive and negative effects on entrepreneurial success. Professor Baron has applied broad approaches from cognitive psychology, social psychology, and judgment and decision-making to develop the field’s socio-cognitive perspective.

Professor Frese has applied a proactive, action-based approach to exploring and clarifying the origins and effects of personal initiative, self-regulated action in the entrepreneurial process, and the success factors of entrepreneurs. By engaging in multiple large-scale meta-studies, Professor Frese has successfully identified and explained the relationships between psychological factors, entrepreneurial action, and entrepreneurial success. His contributions have injected new life into the discussion surrounding personal characteristics and their role in entrepreneurship. His scholarly work has been accompanied by consistent efforts to educate and train prospective and practicing entrepreneurs, particularly in the challenging context of developing and emerging economies.

Beyond these theoretically grounded contributions, the prize winners’ evidence-based approaches to the study of entrepreneurship have led to the creation of innovative tools and strategies for educating and training entrepreneurs across economies at various stages of development.

As long-standing ambassadors for the study of the psychological foundations of entrepreneurship, Professor Robert Baron and Professor Michael Frese have inspired a new generation of researchers to engage with the questions of why, how, and with what effect some individuals choose to pursue entrepreneurship. The pioneering, engaged, and practically relevant scholarship for which they have been recognized is of critical importance for the continued development and success of entrepreneurship research.

Titles, dates and places given above refer to the time of the Award