Puritan Motivation for Serial Entrepreneurship: The Haugean Example

Abstract

It is well known that protestant and puritan environments historically have fostered entrepreneurs. This paper looks at serial entrepreneurship which took place in Norway in the 19th century in networks led by the puritan leader Hans Nielsen Hauge (1771-1824) and his followers. The paper seeks to give an overview of their entrepreneurship and discusses their motivation behind their actions. It concludes they were heavily engaged in serial entrepreneurship, not only within business, but also concerning, politics, welfare and education and that there was a clear religious motivation for their activities.