Institutions, Identity, and Opportunity: A Grounded Theory of Entrepreneurship in Conflict-Affected Contexts

This dissertation generates an original grounded theory of entrepreneurship in conflict-affected contexts, developed from empirical fieldwork in North East Nigeria. Existing entrepreneurship theory has been developed overwhelmingly in stable institutional environments and does not adequately explain how entrepreneurs identify, evaluate, and exploit opportunities when formal institutions have collapsed, physical security is precarious, and social trust networks have been violently disrupted. The research addresses this theoretical gap by building theory inductively from the ground up, using the North East Nigerian context, specifically IDP settlements and post-insurgency host communities in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa States, as the empirical crucible. The grounded theory methodology follows Charmaz's constructivist approach, with data collected through 45 in-depth interviews and 12 months of ethnographic observation across six communities. Theoretical sampling continues through four iterative rounds until theoretical saturation is achieved. Constant comparative analysis generates categories, properties, and the relationships among them. The resulting grounded theory, termed Adaptive Opportunity Emergence under Institutional Void, proposes three central theoretical constructs original to this study: institutional void navigation as an entrepreneurial skill set distinct from opportunity exploitation in stable environments; conflict-embedded resource improvisation as a distinctive bricolage form that leverages the unique resource flows of humanitarian and military presence; and survival-to-significance identity trajectory as the psychological pathway through which necessity entrepreneurs develop aspirational identities. Theoretical and practical implications are drawn for post-conflict entrepreneurship policy. Keywords: grounded theory, conflict entrepreneurship, institutional void, North East Nigeria, opportunity emergence.