‘The Production of Space’, in: Frans Jacobi, Imagine, Space Poetry, Copenhagen, 1996, unpaginated.

The Production of Space

https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/18421.pdf

The role of social and human capital among nascent entrepreneurs

This study examines nascent entrepreneurship by comparing individuals engaged in nascent activities (n=380) with a control group (n=608), after screening a sample from the general population (n=30,427). The study then follows the developmental process of nascent entrepreneurs for 18 months. Bridging and bonding social capital, consisting of both strong and weak ties, was a robust predictor for nascent entrepreneurs, as well as for advancing through the start-up process. With regard to outcomes like first sale or showing a profit, only one aspect of social capital, viz. being a member of a business network, had a statistically significant positive effect. The study supports human capital in predicting entry into nascent entrepreneurship, but only weakly for carrying the start-up process towards successful completion.

By considering the amount of uncertainty perceived and the willingness to bear uncertainty concomitantly, we provide a more complete conceptual model of entrepreneurial action that allows for examination of entrepreneurial action at the individual level of analysis while remaining consistent with a rich legacy of system-level theories of the entrepreneur. Our model not only exposes limitations of existing theories of entrepreneurial action but also contributes to a deeper understanding of important conceptual issues, such as the nature of opportunity and the potential for philosophical reconciliation among entrepreneurship scholars.

Entrepreneurial Action And The Role Of Uncertainty In The Theory Of The Entrepreneur

Survival of the Fittest? Entrepreneurial Human Capital and the Persistence of Underperforming Firms

Investigates small business longevity and financial capital structure using owner human capital measures and demographic traits as explanatory variables, including education level achieved, family background, and age of owner at business start. Data were obtained from a nationwide random sample of 4,429 non-minority males who started businesses between 1976 and 1982, drawn from the U.S. 1982 Characteristics of Business Owners (CBO) survey. Those firms still in operation in 1986 were identified. Results demonstrate that educational level is the most significant human capital variable for identifying business continuance. Also, age of owner was correlated to a lessening of owner effort--therefore, the older the owner is at startup (55 and older) the less likely a firm is to remain in operation. In addition, owners that purchased existing firms are more likely to remain in business than those that started a new venture. Further, owner educational background is a major indicator of the financial capital structure of new firms. Nearly all of the businesses analyzed received no equity capital from organized financial markets, but did have access to debt capital, and those with higher educational level received larger bank loans. Dependence on debt capital, from commercial banks or family and friends, for startup financing is not an accurate gauge of high failure risk. The importance of human versus financial capital as a factor in firm continuance remains unclear. (SFL)

Entrepreneur Human Capital Inputs and Small Business Longevity

Small business longevity is investigated utilizing a nationwide random sample of males who entered self-employment between 1976 and 1982. Highly educated entrepreneurs are most likely to create firms that remained in operation through 1986. Owner educational background, further, is a major determinant of the financial capital structure of small business startups. Financial capital endogeneity notwithstanding, firms with the larger financial investments at startup are consistently overrepresented in the survivor column. Firm leverage, finally, is trivial for delineating active from discontinued businesses. Reliance upon debt capital to finance business startup is clearly not associated with heightened risk of failure. Copyright 1990 by MIT Press.

Timothy Bates

Papers

Entrepreneur Human Capital Inputs and Small Business Longevity

Entrepreneur Human Capital Inputs and Small Business Longevity

Self-employment entry across industry groups

Financing small business creation: The case of Chinese and Korean immigrant entrepreneurs

Analysis of young, small firms that have closed: delineating successful from unsuccessful closures