Abstract/Summary

This comparative historical analysis demonstrates how memory and reflexive interpretations of the past can shape entrepreneurial willingness to collaborate with larger firms in an industry. Emphasizing the importance of spatial metaphors and periodization for developing historical knowledge, the paper focuses on how the historical space of experience explains how entrepreneurs make strategic choices regarding collaboration under conditions of complexity and uncertainty. Comparing the U.S. and U.K. emerging poultry sectors offers a methodologically novel analysis of an important but little‐studied agribusiness sector, offering a dual reading that compares two versions of historical reasoning both theoretically and empirically.