Contrasting Indigenous entrepreneurship in Australia and Canada: how three applied research perspectives can improve policy and programs

Quantification of the failure of the passive welfare system to alleviate the plight of Indigenous people in Australia indicates a remedial role for Indigenous entrepreneurship. However, sustained poor performance in Indigenous entrepreneurship in Australia contrasts with recent high levels of performance in Canada. Three phenomena account for the differences. Canadian Indigenous entrepreneurship policy, in both public and private sectors, is: specific, culturally sensitive and research based. For Australian Indigenous entrepreneurship policy to become more focused and culturally sensitive, it must be deeply grounded in research. Three emerging research perspectives can provide useful insights and a solid foundation for constructive public policy in the Indigenous entrepreneurship field. They are ‘fourth world’ theory, Whetten’s ‘hybrid’ theory and a ‘theory of values’. Overview and objectives of the study Australia is very much in the foreground of this study of Indigenous entrepreneurship policy and performance. Canada provides an inspirational background – almost in the sense of a distant but achievable horizon. The paper presents an argument: not a test. Its empirical component is confined to contrasting selected aggregate measures of the relative status quo of Indigenous entrepreneurship in Australia and Canada. The key issues pertaining to Indigenous entrepreneurship are very similar in both countries as they are in most nation states that contain significant Indigenous minorities. However, on most variables measuring the quantity and quality of present day policy and performance in the field of Indigenous entrepreneurship, the contrast is stark. Canada rates high and Australia low. The paper argues that Australian Indigenous entrepreneurship policy cannot hope to emulate Canadian success by copying in the absence of understanding. Three research perspectives offer insights for development of constructive public policy and private initiative grounded in the unique cultural backgrounds and present social problems of particular peoples and places. The three research perspectives are:  Fourth world theory