Wealth and Entrepreneurship: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Wealth and entrepreneurship are deeply intertwined. Entrepreneurial activity is an important mechanism through which wealth is created, accumulated, and reproduced, while access to wealth fundamentally shapes who can become an entrepreneur, which ventures receive support, and which ideas are able to grow. Yet despite this close connection, research on entrepreneurship and research on wealth have largely developed in parallel. 

This conference brings together scholars interested in examining the relationship between entrepreneurship and wealth from different theoretical, empirical, and methodological perspectives. We particularly invite research that moves beyond viewing wealth merely as a financial resource and instead considers wealth as a source of opportunity, influence, power, and inequality within entrepreneurial processes and ecosystems. 

A central focus is on the reciprocal relationship between how entrepreneurship shapes wealth and how wealth shapes entrepreneurship. This includes questions about wealth creation and distribution through entrepreneurial activity, access to entrepreneurial opportunities and financing, the role of inherited and accumulated wealth, and the ways in which entrepreneurial wealth is legitimized and understood. 

The conference will feature a keynote by sociologist Céline Bessière, Paris Dauphine University (PSL University). 

We are particularly interested in interactions among four key actor groups: founders, investors, political enablers, and entrepreneurial support organizations. Examining how these actors interact can illuminate how resources and opportunities are allocated, how entrepreneurial trajectories are shaped, and how wealth concentration may be reproduced or challenged within entrepreneurial ecosystems. 

The conference explicitly welcomes methodological pluralism, including quantitative studies, qualitative and ethnographic research, process studies, historical approaches, and comparative research across regions and institutional contexts.

The workshop is organized within the Volkswagen Foundation-funded project Capital Cities: Understanding Wealth Concentration in the Startup Ecosystems of Berlin and Paris. It will present initial findings from the project while fostering interdisciplinary dialogue across entrepreneurship, sociology, and related disciplines. 

Possible topics include, but are not limited to: 

• Wealth creation and distribution through entrepreneurship 
• Wealth inequality and access to entrepreneurial opportunities 
• Personal and family wealth as antecedents of entrepreneurial entry and growth 
• Venture capital, angel investment, family offices, and other forms of entrepreneurial finance 
• Investor influence on entrepreneurial trajectories and innovation 
• Exits, acquisitions, IPOs, and entrepreneurial wealth accumulation 
• Wealth, power, and social closure in entrepreneurial ecosystems 
• Political and institutional conditions shaping entrepreneurial wealth 
• Accelerators, incubators, universities, and other entrepreneurial support organizations 
• Narratives of meritocracy, innovation, and the legitimacy of entrepreneurial wealth 
• Inheritance, family ownership, and intergenerational wealth transmission 
• Gender, migration, ethnicity, and wealth in entrepreneurship 
• Wealth dynamics across startups, family firms, small businesses, and social ventures 
• Comparative perspectives on entrepreneurship and wealth across regions and countries 

Submission 

We invite submissions of extended abstracts or full papers addressing the relationship between wealth and entrepreneurship. 

Extended abstracts should be approximately 1,000 words and should outline the research question, theoretical perspective, methodological approach, and expected or preliminary contribution. Full papers are also welcome. 

Submissions should be written in English and submitted as a PDF or Word document to entinno@wiwi.uni-wuppertal.de by 15 November 2026. Please include the title of the paper, names and affiliations of all authors, and the corresponding author’s contact information. 

Submissions will be reviewed by the organizing team based on their fit with the conference theme, scholarly quality, and potential to contribute to interdisciplinary discussion. 

We explicitly welcome work in progress and encourage submissions from scholars at different career stages and disciplinary backgrounds.

Important Dates 

• Submission deadline: 15 November 2026 
• Notification: 15 December 2026 
• Confirmation: 15 January 2027 
• Final Program: 15 February 2027 
• Conference: 8–9 April 2027 

Practicalities 

There is no registration fee. Limited travel assistance is available. 

Host Prof. Dr. Julia de Groote Jackstädt Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Research University of Wuppertal 

Project Team 

• Prof. Dr. Julia de Groote, University of Wuppertal (degroote@wiwi.uni-wuppertal.de) 
• Prof. Dr. Isabell Stamm, Technische Universität Berlin (stamm@tu-berlin.de) 
• Dr. Franziska Cooiman, Technische Universität Berlin (cooiman@tu-berlin.de) 

Local Organizing Team: 

• Maria Basel, University of Wuppertal (basel@wiwi.uni-wuppertal.de)
• Viviane Blank, University of Wuppertal (blank@wiwi.uni-wuppertal.de)

Zum Call for Papers (PDF)