Showing papers on "Entrepreneurship published in 2015"
TL;DR: The authors in this article reviewed the entrepreneurial ecosystem literature and its shortcomings, and provided a novel synthesis including a causal scheme of how the framework and sy... and a causal depth and evidence base is rather limited.
Abstract: Regional policies for entrepreneurship are currently going through a transition from increasing the quantity of entrepreneurship to increasing the quality of entrepreneurship. The next step will be the transition from entrepreneurship policy towards policy for an entrepreneurial economy. The entrepreneurial ecosystem approach has been heralded as a new framework accommodating these transitions. This approach starts with the entrepreneurial actor, but emphasizes the context of productive entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is not only the output of the system, entrepreneurs are important players themselves in creating the ecosystem and keeping it healthy. This research briefing reviews the entrepreneurial ecosystem literature and its shortcomings, and provides a novel synthesis. The entrepreneurial ecosystem approach speaks directly to practitioners, but its causal depth and evidence base is rather limited. This article provides a novel synthesis including a causal scheme of how the framework and sy...
1,051 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate the relevance and robustness of the theory of planned behavior in the prediction of business start-up intentions and subsequent behavior based on longitudinal survey data from the adult population in Austria and Finland.
Abstract: This analysis demonstrates the relevance and robustness of the theory of planned behavior in the prediction of business start-up intentions and subsequent behavior based on longitudinal survey data (2011 and 2012; n = 969) from the adult population in Austria and Finland. By doing so, the study addresses two weaknesses in current research: the limited scope of samples used in the majority of prior studies and the scarcity of investigations studying the translation of entrepreneurial intentions into behavior. The paper discusses conceptual and methodological issues related to studying the intention–behavior relationship and outlines avenues for future research.
881 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors introduce the concept of National Systems of Entrepreneurship and provide an approach to characterizing them, which are fundamentally resource allocation systems that are driven by individual-level opportunity pursuit, through the creation of new ventures, with this activity and its outcomes regulated by country-specific institutional characteristics.
Abstract: We introduce a novel concept of National Systems of Entrepreneurship and provide an approach to characterizing them. National Systems of Entrepreneurship are fundamentally resource allocation systems that are driven by individual-level opportunity pursuit, through the creation of new ventures, with this activity and its outcomes regulated by country-specific institutional characteristics. In contrast with the institutional emphasis of the National Systems of Innovation frameworks, where institutions engender and regulate action, National Systems of Entrepreneurship are driven by individuals, with institutions regulating who acts and the outcomes of individual action. Building on these principles, we also introduce a novel index methodology to characterizing National Systems of Entrepreneurship. The distinctive features of the methodology are: (1) systemic approach, which allows interactions between components of National Systems of Entrepreneurship; (2) the Penalty for Bottleneck feature, which identifies bottleneck factors that hold back system performance; (3) contextualization, which recognizes that national entrepreneurship processes are always embedded in a given country’s institutional framework.
692 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the influence of entrepreneurship education programs on participants' attitudes and intention toward entrepreneurship and how this influence related to past experience and how does it persis...
Abstract: Do entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) really influence participants’ attitudes and intention toward entrepreneurship? How is this influence related to past experience and how does it persis...
668 citations
TL;DR: The authors provide an academic foundation for understanding new financial options that entrepreneurs can now use to start and grow ventures, such as microfinance, crowdfunding, and peer-to-peer lending.
Abstract: New financing alternatives, such as microfinance, crowdfunding, and peer-to-peer lending, have expanded rapidly. To date, few studies have investigated the antecedents and consequences of these financing mechanisms. This special issue provides an academic foundation for understanding new financial options that entrepreneurs can now use to start and grow ventures. In the introductory article, we integrate strands of the literature on emerging innovations in entrepreneurial finance and provide a framework for a systematic approach to new research questions. We conclude with a discussion of the six papers in the special issue and demonstrate how they contribute to the framework.
597 citations
01 Jan 2015
TL;DR: The authors proposed a re-conceptualization using the constructs External Enablers, New Venture Ideas, and Opportunity Confidence to capture the many important ideas commonly discussed under the "opportunity" label.
Abstract: The literature on “entrepreneurial opportunities” has grown rapidly since the publication of Shane and Venkataraman (2000). By directing attention to the earliest stages of development of new economic activities and organizations, this marks sound redirection of entrepreneurship research. However, our review shows that theoretical and empirical progress has been limited on important aspects of the role of “opportunities” and their interaction with actors, i.e., the “nexus”. We argue that this is rooted in inherent and inescapable problems with the “opportunity” construct itself, when applied in the context of a prospective, micro-level (i.e., individual[s], venture, or individual–venture dyad) view of entrepreneurial processes. We therefore suggest a fundamental re-conceptualization using the constructs External Enablers, New Venture Ideas, and Opportunity Confidence to capture the many important ideas commonly discussed under the “opportunity” label. This re-conceptualization makes important distinctions where prior conceptions have been blurred: between explananda and explanantia; between actor and the entity acted upon; between external conditions and subjective perceptions, and between the contents and the favorability of the entity acted upon. These distinctions facilitate theoretical precision and can guide empirical investigation towards more fruitful designs.
558 citations
TL;DR: This article proposed a re-conceptualization using the constructs External Enablers, New Venture Ideas, and Opportunity Confidence to capture the many important ideas commonly discussed under the "opportunity" label.
531 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present some of ZoltAin J. Jørgenson's most important contributions since the turn of the new millennium, with a particular intellectual focus on the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship.
Abstract: This book presents some of ZoltAin J. A cs’ most important contributions since the turn of the the new millennium, with a particular intellectual focus on the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship. This approach was shaped by three major events: the rapid globalization that occurred in the first decade of the 21st century; research on the role institutions have played in economic development during the past few decades; and the spread of entrepreneurial activity around the world following the collapse of communism at the end of the 20th century. This entrepreneurial activity has given rise to many questions of theory, measurement and policy.
499 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors propose to operationalize the concept of entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents in an attempt to address those issues, and propose an original research design where they measure the initial state and persistence of the impact and not only short-term effects, and deal with a compulsory program, allowing to avoid self-selection biases.
Abstract: Do entrepreneurship education programs (EEPs) really influence participants' attitudes and intention toward entrepreneurship? How is this influence related to past experience and how does it persist? Researchers and entrepreneurship education stakeholders alike have been looking into this question for quite a while, with a view to validating the efficacy of such programs. The authors of this paper propose to operationalize the concept of entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents in an attempt to address those issues. In particular, we propose an original research design where (1) we measure the initial state and persistence of the impact and not only short‐term effects; (2) we deal with a compulsory program, allowing to avoid self‐selection biases; and (3) we deal with an homogeneous "compact" program rather than programs combining multiple teaching components whose effects cannot be disentangled. Our main research results show that the positive effects of an EEP are all the more marked when previous entrepreneurial exposure has been weak or inexistent. Conversely, for those students who had previously significantly been exposed to entrepreneurship, the results highlight significant countereffects of the EEP on those participants.
496 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop the institutional configuration perspective to understand which national contexts facilitate social entrepreneurship and confirm joint effects on SE of formal regulatory (government activism), informal cognitive (postmaterialist cultural values), and informal normative (socially supportive cultural norms, or weak-tie social capital) institutions.
Abstract: We develop the institutional configuration perspective to understand which national contexts facilitate social entrepreneurship (SE). We confirm joint effects on SE of formal regulatory (government activism), informal cognitive (postmaterialist cultural values), and informal normative (socially supportive cultural norms, or weak-tie social capital) institutions in a multilevel study of 106,484 individuals in 26 nations. We test opposing propositions from the institutional void and institutional support perspectives. Our results underscore the importance of resource support from both formal and informal institutions, and highlight motivational supply side influences on SE. They advocate greater consideration of institutional configurations in institutional theory and comparative entrepreneurship research.
483 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a survey of 114 students enrolled in different entrepreneurship courses at a major British university found that higher self-efficacy is associated with lower entrepreneurial intentions in the theoretically oriented courses and higher entrepreneurial intention in the practically oriented courses.
Abstract: This paper contextualizes the relationship between student's self-efficacy beliefs and entrepreneurial intentions in the content and pedagogy of the entrepreneurship course. Using the logic of regulatory focus theory, we argue that the nature of the entrepreneurship course-whether theoretically or practically oriented-creates a distinct motivational frame for entrepreneurship in promotion or prevention terms. When coupled with students' self-efficacy beliefs, this frame can strengthen or weaken their intentions for future entrepreneurial efforts. We test this hypothesis through a survey of 114 students enrolled in different entrepreneurship courses at a major British university. Our results show that higher self-efficacy is associated with lower entrepreneurial intentions in the theoretically oriented courses and higher entrepreneurial intentions in the practically oriented courses. We draw a number of implications for the theory and practice of entrepreneurship education.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce entrepreneurial legacy, which they define as the family's rhetorical reconstruction of past entrepreneurial achievements or resilience, and theorize that it motivates incumbent and next-generation owners to engage in strategic activities that foster transgenerational entrepreneurship.
TL;DR: A review of decision-making research in entrepreneurship can be found in this paper, where the authors inductively categorize the articles into decision making topics arranged along the primary activities associated with entrepreneurship (opportunity assessment decisions, entrepreneurial entry decisions, decisions about exploiting opportunities, entrepreneurial exit decisions, heuristics and biases in the decision making contex...
TL;DR: The Journal of Business Venturing (JBV) celebrated its 30th birthday in 2013 as mentioned in this paper, which is a milestone in the history of the journal and the field of entrepreneurship.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the time is ripe to rethink academic entrepreneurship and that more stakeholders have become involved in academic entrepreneurship, and that universities have become more strategic in their approach to this activity.
Abstract: Academic entrepreneurship, which refers to efforts undertaken by universities to promote commercialization on campus and in surrounding regions of the university, has changed dramatically in recent years. Two key consequences of this change are that more stakeholders have become involved in academic entrepreneurship and that universities have become more ‘strategic’ in their approach to this activity. The authors assert that the time is ripe to rethink academic entrepreneurship. Specifically, theoretical and empirical research on academic entrepreneurship needs to take account of these changes, so as to improve the rigour and relevance of future studies on this topic. We outline such a framework and provide examples of key research questions that need to be addressed to broaden understanding of academic entrepreneurship.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the economic impact of entrepreneurial universities' teaching, research, and entrepreneurial activities on the United Kingdom's economic performance and find that the highest economic impact is associated with knowledge transfer (knowledge capital).
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a model that shows how growth depends on knowledge accumulation and its diffusion through both incumbents and entrepreneurial activities, and they claim that entrepreneurs are one missing link in converting knowledge into economically relevant knowledge.
Abstract: The intellectual breakthrough contributed by the new growth theory was the recognition that investments in knowledge and human capital endogenously generate economic growth through the spillover of knowledge. However, endogenous growth theory does not explain how or why spillovers occur. This paper presents a model that shows how growth depends on knowledge accumulation and its diffusion through both incumbents and entrepreneurial activities. We claim that entrepreneurs are one missing link in converting knowledge into economically relevant knowledge. Implementing different regression techniques for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries during 1981 to 2002 provides surprisingly robust evidence that primarily entrepreneurs contributed to growth and that the importance of entrepreneurs increased in the 1990s. A Granger test confirms that causality goes in the direction from entrepreneurs to growth. The results indicate that policies facilitating entrepreneurship are an important tool to enhance knowledge diffusion and promote economic growth.
01 Jul 2015
TL;DR: The Journal of Business Venturing (JBV) celebrated its 30th birthday in 2013 as discussed by the authors, which is a milestone in the history of the journal and the field of entrepreneurship.
Abstract: It is the Journal of Business Venturing's (JBV) 30th birthday. Although the community of entrepreneurship scholars deserves to celebrate JBV's achievements over the last 30 years (and congratulate the journal's parents—Ian Macmillan and S. Venkataraman), my focus is more on the future of entrepreneurship (and by extension JBV). A focus on entrepreneurship is both timeless and timely. On the one hand, entrepreneurship is timeless given the long-recognized importance of entrepreneurs to economies and societies (e.g., Jean Baptiste who supposedly coined the term in about 1800). On the other hand, a discussion of entrepreneurship is timely because now that the field of entrepreneurship has achieved legitimacy, it faces both opportunities and threats. It is thus timely to acknowledge the threats and think about opportunities to advance the field. A discussion of entrepreneurship is also timely because society faces a number of grand challenges (including the durability of poverty, environmental degradation [ Dorado and Ventresca, 2013]), challenges well suited to entrepreneurial responses...
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, Mirowski introduced the concept of Russian Dolls as a concept, essentially agents of influence in favor of Neoliberalism that operate at the societal level in the United States, from think-tanks, to politicians to the media.
Abstract: Review of Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste: How Neoliberalism Survived the Financial Meltdown, New York, Verso, 1st edition, 2013, ISBN: 978-1-781-68079-7, 384 pagesPhilip Mirowski's work is an important contribution to the post-2008 crisis economic literature. The book aims to show how Neoliberalism (or the Neoliberal Thought Collective - NTC, as it is referred to here) took over aspects of society beyond the economy and became integrated in everyday societal life, to the degree to which neoliberal thinkers were able to manipulate evidence and realities.One of the great themes of the book is the concept of 'Russian dolls'. In order to explain how Neoliberalism became so influential, Mirowski introduces the 'Russian dolls' as a concept, essentially agents of influence in favor of Neoliberalism that operate at the societal level in the United States, from think-tanks, to politicians to the media. The doll in the very core of this interlocking system is represented by the Mont Pelerin Society, a Neoliberal laboratory of ideas.This innermost doll was subsequently wrapped in a favorable rhetorical campaign aimed to promote Neoliberalism. The theory and ideas were there, the next phase, as Mirowski shows, was to make them acceptable for the masses as a mainstream current. To Mirowski, the acceptance and embrace of Neoliberalism came as a result of its resonance with basic American principles, such as the laissez-faire. Neoliberalism relied on ideas such as promoting entrepreneurship and reduced government to resonate with many of the Americans for whom all these were principles of successful leadership. To the degree to which this was initially an economic current and a public policy approach, it is now today a cultural and societal expression. This is the primary reason for which Neoliberalism remains so successful today, despite the economic and financial crisis it has passed through.After presenting some general considerations on the crisis in chapter 1, Mirowski goes down history lane in Chapter 2 ('Shock Block Doctrine') in order to present to the reader key incipient figures of Neoliberalism (primarily Friedrich von Hayek) who shared a common belief: all economic issues could be solved by further encouraging the development of free markets.The acceptance of Neoliberalism at the societal level is a result of the interlocking relationship between different entities, from corporations to the government to the individual and academic institutions. The informational society in which we live today is fundamentally and culturally Neoliberal, it favors the free flow of information, increased communication through new forms and platforms of interaction and so on. Mirowski's belief is that Neoliberalism has become an everyday activity for the masses, redefining today's society, and he argues this throughout chapter 3 ('Everyday Neoliberalism'), using an analysis of French philosopher Michel Foucault and various views on today's American society.It is also, in Mirowski's view, a gross manipulation of realities by the Neoliberals, as emphasized in chapter 5 of the book. The manipulation is done perfectly, because reality is not only altered, but new realities are actually created for the individual. The author resumes his argument from chapter 2, per which 'the relation of the control of knowledge to political power has been a neoliberal specialty' (p. 242). He quotes a Bush administration official saying, in 2002, that, embracing its new quality as a global empire, when the US acts, 'we create our own reality' and that 'while you are studying that reality, we'll act again, creating other new realities. …
TL;DR: This article explored the situated practices of entrepreneurs in two depleted communities in the Northwest of Ireland and found that entrepreneurs not only drew on the community in running their business, but were also involved in a wide range of other activities that engaged, involved and worked with the community.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the relationship between franchisee's affective commitment and franchisee outcomes and find that affective com- mitment to the franchise organization was positively related to franchisee objective perfor- mance and intent to acquire additional units.
Abstract: Franchisees’ affective organizational commitment refers to the degree to which franchisees experience an emotional attachment to their franchise organization. Using a social exchange theory perspective, this research reports four studies that explore the relationship between franchisee’s affective commitment and franchisee outcomes. We found that affective com- mitment to the franchise organization was positively related to franchisee objective perfor- mance (Study 1) and intent to acquire additional units (Study 2), and negatively related to franchisee opportunism (Study 3) and intent to leave the franchise organization, particularly when continuance commitment (i.e., commitment based on the cost associated with mem- bership to the franchise) was low (Study 4). The implications of these findings are discussed.
TL;DR: This article conducted a meta-analysis of 52 empirical samples comprising 10,538 observations to test the nature of this relationship, and in particular how organizational, environmental, and cultural factors moderate the creativity-innovation link.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed and tested a theoretical perspective that merged these ideas, maintaining that firm-level entrepreneurial orientation is associated with higher international performance both directly and in combination with participation in foreign market research or marketing alliances.
Abstract: International entrepreneurship research maintains that firms with strong entrepreneurial orientations expand to international markets to enhance performance. Yet these firms can suffer from resource constraints as they move abroad. To alleviate this problem, previous research has suggested participation in strategic alliances. We developed and tested a theoretical perspective that merged these ideas, maintaining that firm-level entrepreneurial orientation is associated with higher international performance both directly and in combination with participation in foreign market research or marketing alliances. Based on surveys of U.S. and U.K. firms, our findings indicate that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have higher international performance when they possess greater entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and when the type of alliance (research or marketing) used is aligned with the capabilities of the firm. Further we find that participating in alliances strengthens the relation between EO and international performance. These results have important implications for managers and policy makers interested in improving SME international performance.
TL;DR: This article examined early-stage entrepreneurial investment decision making under conditions of extreme uncertainty and found that angel investors rely on a combination of expertise-based intuition and formal analysis in which intuition trumps analysis, contrary to reports in other investment contexts.
Abstract: Using an inductive theory-development study, a field experiment, and a longitudinal field test, we examine early-stage entrepreneurial investment decision making under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Building on existing literature on decision making and risk in organizations, intuition, and theories of entrepreneurial financing, we test the effectiveness of angel investors’ criteria for making investment decisions. We found that angel investors’ decisions have several characteristics that have not been adequately captured in existing theory: angel investors have clear objectives—risking small stakes to find extraordinarily profitable investments, fully expecting to lose their entire investment in most cases—and they rely on a combination of expertise-based intuition and formal analysis in which intuition trumps analysis, contrary to reports in other investment contexts. We also found that their reported emphasis on assessments of the entrepreneur accurately predicts extraordinarily profitable venture ...
TL;DR: The authors explore the origins of the intergenerational association in entrepreneurship using Swedish adoption data that allow them to quantify the relative importance of pre-birth and post-birth factors, and find that parental entrepreneurship increases the probability of children's entrepreneurship by about 60%.
Abstract: We explore the origins of the intergenerational association in entrepreneurship using Swedish adoption data that allow us to quantify the relative importance of prebirth and postbirth factors. We find that parental entrepreneurship increases the probability of children’s entrepreneurship by about 60%. For adoptees, both biological and adoptive parents make significant contributions to this association. These contributions, however, are quite different in size. Postbirth factors account for twice as much as prebirth factors in our decomposition of the intergenerational association in entrepreneurship. We investigate several candidate explanations for this large postbirth factor and present suggestive evidence in favor of role modeling.
TL;DR: In this paper, a critical review of the Journal of International Business Studies Decade Award-winning article offers numerous contributions to international business research, and the resultant implications and the question of when it is appropriate to use the term "born global" are discussed.
Abstract: Knight and Cavusgil’s Journal of International Business Studies Decade Award-winning article offers numerous contributions to international business research. As one example, it advances cross-disciplinary conversation about entrepreneurial internationalization. A critical review of their study reveals, however, that certain findings require reinterpretation. This commentary does so, discussing the resultant implications and the question of when it is (in)appropriate to use the term “born global”. Parts of Knight and Cavusgil are then used as a foundation to identify research questions at the level of the firm. Finally, points from Cavusgil and Knight’s retrospective are used to argue that we need greater understanding of the individual(s) that are central to the firm’s internationalization behaviour. Suggestions for research are made by drawing on concepts and theory from the entrepreneurship, innovation and psychology literatures.
TL;DR: This article investigated the influence of economic and political institutions on the prevalence rate of formal and informal entrepreneurship across 18 countries in the Asia-Pacific region during the period 2001-2010 and found the quality of institutions to exercise a substantial influence on both formal and irregular entrepreneurship.
Abstract: We investigated the influence of economic and political institutions on the prevalence rate of formal and informal entrepreneurship across 18 countries in the Asia-Pacific region during the period 2001–2010. We found the quality of institutions to exercise a substantial influence on both formal and informal entrepreneurship. One standard-deviation increase in the quality of economic and political institutions could double the rates of formal entrepreneurship and halve the rates of informal entrepreneurship. The two types of institutions had a complementary effect on driving entry into formal entrepreneurship, whereas only direct effects were observed for informal entry.
TL;DR: This article developed and empirically evaluated an institutional theory of gender inequalities in business start-up, ownership, and growth orientation, and argued that in contexts in which institution's gender inequalities were not explicitly considered, they could be seen as a form of sexism.
Abstract: This article develops and empirically evaluates an institutional theory of gender inequalities in business start-up, ownership, and growth orientation. I argue that in contexts in which institution...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed and tested an integrative, multiperspective framework to measure students' perception of the support that they receive in order to understand the extent of such support and its impact on students.
Abstract: Entrepreneurship education is central to student entrepreneurship. Previous research has attempted to understand the role of entrepreneurship education in the formation of students' entrepreneurial intention and behavior, albeit in an isolated manner. Universities can support entrepreneurship in many ways, but it is important to measure students' perception of the support that they receive in order to understand the extent of such support and its impact on students. The current study proposed and tested an integrative, multiperspective framework. We have hypothesized that the three dimensions of university support, that is, perceived educational support, concept development support, and business development support, together with institutional support, shape students' entrepreneurial self-efficacy. In turn, entrepreneurial self-efficacy and individual motivations constitute the fundamental elements of the intention to start a business. A sample of 805 university students took part in the study and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Our findings showed that perceived educational support exerted the highest influence on entrepreneurial self-efficacy, followed by concept development support, business development support, and institutional support. Self-efficacy in turn had a significant effect on entrepreneurial intention. Individual motivations such as self-realization, recognition, and role had an additional impact on intention. However, intention was not related to financial success, innovation, and independence. The findings suggest that a holistic perspective provides a more meaningful understanding of the role of perceived university support in the formation of students' entrepreneurial intention. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors apply inductive analytic techniques to identify and elaborate on two recurring themes that underpin the core puzzle of entrepreneurship research, namely, where entrepreneurial opportunities come from.