Showing papers on "Entrepreneurship published in 2018"
TL;DR: A process model is inductively derived that aims to describe and explain how SME entrepreneurs, with support from the digital platform service provider, drive digital transformation through managerial cognition renewal, managerial social capital development, business team building, and organizational capability building.
Abstract: This research investigates how entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with inadequate capabilities and limited resources drove digital transformation in their companies, a phenomenon that remains under-researched in the extant literature. We conduct qualitative research on digital transformation to cross-border e-commerce undergone by 7 SMEs on the Alibaba digital platform. We inductively derive a process model that aims to describe and explain how SME entrepreneurs, with support from the digital platform service provider, drive digital transformation through managerial cognition renewal, managerial social capital development, business team building, and organizational capability building. This model expands our understanding of both digital entrepreneurship and digital transformation. It also presents new insights into how digital platform service providers can help SMEs transform and compete.
515 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the relationship between entrepreneurial ecosystems and other existing literatures such as clusters and regional innovation systems and suggest that a process-based view of ecosystems provides a better framework to understand their role in supporting new venture creation.
Abstract: Research Summary: Entrepreneurial ecosystems have recently emerged as a popular concept within entrepreneurship policy and practitioner communities. Specifically, they are seen as a regional economic development strategy that is based around creating supportive environments that foster innovative start-ups. However, existing research on entrepreneurial ecosystems has been largely typological and atheoretical and has not yet explored how they influence the entrepreneurship process. This article critically examines the relationships between ecosystems and other existing literatures such as clusters and regional innovation systems. Drawing on this background, the article suggests that a process-based view of ecosystems provides a better framework to understand their role in supporting new venture creation. This framework is used to explain the evolution and transformation of entrepreneurial ecosystems and to create a typology of different ecosystem structures.
Managerial Summary: Entrepreneurial ecosystems are a new buzzword within research and managerial circles. They represent the types of cultural, social, economic, and political environments within a region that support high-growth entrepreneurship. But current research does little more than look at successful ecosystems to identify best practices. This article examines what we know about entrepreneurial ecosystems and links them with existing theories like clusters and regional innovation systems. We argue that successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurship within an ecosystem generates critical entrepreneurial resources like investment capital, skilled workers, and entrepreneurial knowledge. This, in turn, supports future high-growth venture creation. The types of resources available in an ecosystem and the ability of these resources to flow through social networks helps separate strong, well-functioning ecosystems from weak, poorly functioning ones.
477 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed and critically examined 77 journal articles published from 2005 to 2016 on the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) applied in business and management research on the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation research.
Abstract: This article reviews and critically examines 77 journal articles published from 2005 to 2016 on the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) applied in business and management research on the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation research. The findings reveal that the number of fsQCA applications has sharply increased during the past few years. Stemming from the systematic literature review, core aspects dealing with firm performance and innovation are identified. Ultimately, we provide promising areas with future potential for the application of fsQCA such as the elaboration of the antecedents leading to business model innovation.
354 citations
TL;DR: A review of the literature, concepts, and operationalizations of the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems can be found in this article, where the authors address several specific topics: the choice of scale, universities as ecosystem hubs, and how such ecosystems evolve.
Abstract: This paper reviews the literature, concepts, and operationalizations of the concept of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Despite some interest at the national level, entrepreneurship is understood to take place in localities or, at most, regions, drawing on local resources, institutions, and networks. Bibliometric evidence shows that usage of the term entrepreneurial ecosystem has overtaken other concepts, such as environments for entrepreneurship, which also highlight the mechanisms, institutions, networks, and cultures that support entrepreneurs. This review addresses several specific topics: the choice of scale, universities as ecosystem hubs, and how such ecosystems evolve. This is followed by suggestions toward an agenda for future research, placing particular attention on methodologies.
335 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a systematic review that integrates insights from 144 empirical studies about entrepreneurs' mental health and well-being (MWB) and provide a mapping and framework that advance research on entrepreneurs' MWB and help to position entrepreneurs’ MWB more centrally in management and entrepreneurship research.
Abstract: Interest in entrepreneurs’ mental health and well-being (MWB) is growing in recognition of the role of MWB in entrepreneurs’ decision making, motivation, and action. Yet relevant knowledge is dispersed across disciplines, which makes what we currently understand about entrepreneurs’ MWB unclear. In this systematic review I integrate insights from 144 empirical studies. These studies show that research is focused on three research questions: (1) Do different types of entrepreneurs differ in their MWB? What are the (2) antecedents and (3) consequences of entrepreneurs’ MWB? The review systematizes evidence on known antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurs’ MWB but also reveals overlooked and undertheorized sources and outcomes of entrepreneurs’ MWB. The review provides a mapping and framework that advance research on entrepreneurs’ MWB and help to position entrepreneurs’ MWB more centrally in management and entrepreneurship research. It calls for researchers to go beyond applying models developed for employees to understand entrepreneurs. Instead, the findings point the way to developing a dedicated theory of entrepreneurial work and MWB that is dynamic, socialized, and open to considering context and acknowledges variability and fluidity across entrepreneurs’ life domains, as well as the centrality of work for entrepreneurs’ identity.
323 citations
TL;DR: The world in which today's businesses operate has become not only riskier but also more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). Organizations that hew too closely to traditional ways of...
Abstract: The world in which today’s businesses operate has become not only riskier but also more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). Organizations that hew too closely to traditional ways of...
309 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze the impact of entrepreneurial motivations on entrepreneurial intentions among future engineers and identify the role than entrepreneurship education plays in the development of the engineers' entrepreneurship, and confirm the positive contribution that entrepreneurship education has on their entrepreneurial intentions.
307 citations
TL;DR: Blockchain tokens may democratize entrepreneurship by giving entrepreneurs new ways to raise funds and engage stakeholders, and innovation by giving innovators a new way to develop, deploy, and diffuse decentralized applications.
294 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate how German Mittelstand firms flourish and achieve high innovation performance despite the severe financial and human capital resource constraints they face as compared with larger corporations, and present a model identifying and integrating six salient traits of such firms that allow them to efficiently orchestrate their resources to innovate and outcompete their competitors in the global market.
263 citations
09 Jan 2018
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that entrepreneurship education research is not advancing as fast as general entrepreneurship because it is not subject to the same level of scholarship as other areas of research.
Abstract: Entrepreneurship education (EE) research is not advancing as fast as general entrepreneurship because it is not subject to the same level of scholarship. Grounded in the Scholarship of Teaching and...
259 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a theoretical framework that focuses on the roles different agents play in regional transformation and applied this framework, using Swedish matched employer-employee data, to determine how novel the activities of new establishments are to a region.
Abstract: Who introduces structural change in regional economies: Entrepreneurs or existing firms? And do local or nonlocal establishment founders create most novelty in a region? We develop a theoretical framework that focuses on the roles different agents play in regional transformation. We then apply this framework, using Swedish matched employer–employee data, to determine how novel the activities of new establishments are to a region. Incumbents mainly reinforce a region’s current specialization: incumbent’s growth, decline, and industry switching further align them with the rest of the local economy. The unrelated diversification required for structural change mostly originates via new establishments, especially via those with nonlocal roots. Interestingly, although entrepreneurs often introduce novel activities to a local economy, when they do so, their ventures have higher failure rates compared to new subsidiaries of existing firms. Consequently, new subsidiaries manage to create longer-lasting change in regions.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a conceptual basis for stimulating scholarly thought and improving our collective understanding of sustainable entrepreneurship as a distinct subdomain within entrepreneurship research, and critically discuss the main challenges ahead and elaborates on the research implications and future research directions beyond current, dominant approaches to entrepreneurial action.
Abstract: The recognition of entrepreneurship as a solution to, rather than a cause of, environmental degradation and social inequality moved the field to identify a new type of entrepreneurial activity, namely sustainable entrepreneurship. Scholarly interest has spiked in recent years; however, aside from its aspirational appeal, there remains a lack of understanding of the nature of the phenomenon and the future of sustainable entrepreneurship in theory and practice. This review seeks to provide a conceptual basis for stimulating scholarly thought and improving our collective understanding of sustainable entrepreneurship as a distinct subdomain within entrepreneurship research. Based on boundary definition and delineation of main features, this review critically discusses the main challenges ahead and elaborates on the research implications and future research directions beyond current, dominant approaches to entrepreneurial action.
TL;DR: In this article, a parsimonious growth model was proposed to evaluate the impact of institutions on entrepreneurship and the effects of entrepreneurship on economic growth using a 3SLS specification, and the authors showed that institutions have a decisive impact on the prevalence and nature of entrepreneurship.
Abstract: Institutions have a decisive impact on the prevalence and nature of entrepreneurship. To date, the impact of institutions on (productive) entrepreneurship and the effects of entrepreneurship on economic growth have largely been investigated in isolation. In this paper, we bring together institutions, entrepreneurship, and economic growth using a parsimonious growth model in a 3SLS specification. In our first stage, we regress multiple measures of entrepreneurial activity on institutional proxies that are known to correlate with more productive forms of entrepreneurial activity. Using the fitted values of this first-stage regression as our proxy for productive entrepreneurship, we can then estimate a panel growth regression following Islam (1995) in a second stage. The third stage then optimizes the estimation of the two equations simultaneously. Our results show that productive entrepreneurship contributes to economic growth. In our set of proxies for institutional quality, financial stability, small government, and perceived start-up skills are the most important predictors of such productive entrepreneurship.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce coworking spaces into management research and identify key factors which lead to their conceptual model, which assumes that performance, especially entrepreneurial performance, improves by the learning processes among coworking-users that take upon the individual efficacy, trust and community among coworkers.
Abstract: The sharing economy brings a new phenomenon—coworking-spaces. One aspect of coworking-spaces is the sharing of office space; another is the sharing of social spaces beside the office. Both give rise to social interactions and thus knowledge and idea exchanges which might provide more than a mere sharing of working-spaces but of entrepreneurship or of incubation. Coworking-spaces stimulate the finding of mates for teams, projects, and entrepreneurship. This paper introduces coworking-spaces into management research. We deliver an understanding of coworking-spaces and then identify key factors which lead to our conceptual model. Our model assumes that performance, especially entrepreneurial performance improves by the learning processes among coworking-users that take upon the individual efficacy, trust and community among coworking-users. All the concepts have a positive relation. Yet, opportunism, often as knowledge leakage, will directly and indirectly spoil learning processes and entrepreneurial performance as it reduces their antecedents trust and community building.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the relationship between economic growth, factor inputs, institutions, and entrepreneurship and investigate whether entrepreneurship and institutions, in combination in an ecosystem, can be viewed as a "missing link" in an aggregate production function analysis of cross-country differences in economic growth.
Abstract: We analyze conceptually and in an empirical counterpart the relationship between economic growth, factor inputs, institutions, and entrepreneurship. In particular, we investigate whether entrepreneurship and institutions, in combination in an ecosystem, can be viewed as a “missing link” in an aggregate production function analysis of cross-country differences in economic growth. To do this, we build on the concept of National Systems of Entrepreneurship (NSE) as resource allocation systems that combine institutions and human agency into an interdependent system of complementarities. We explore the empirical relevance of these ideas using data from a representative global survey and institutional sources for 46 countries over the period 2002–2011. We find support for the role of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in economic growth.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyze the relationship between economic growth, factor inputs, institutions, and entrepreneurship and investigate whether entrepreneurship and institutions, in combination in an ecosystem, can be viewed as a "missing link" in an aggregate production function analysis of cross-country differences in economic growth.
Abstract: We analyze conceptually and in an empirical counterpart the relationship between economic growth, factor inputs, institutions, and entrepreneurship. In particular, we investigate whether entrepreneurship and institutions, in combination in an ecosystem, can be viewed as a “missing link” in an aggregate production function analysis of cross-country differences in economic growth. To do this, we build on the concept of National Systems of Entrepreneurship (NSE) as resource allocation systems that combine institutions and human agency into an interdependent system of complementarities. We explore the empirical relevance of these ideas using data from a representative global survey and institutional sources for 46 countries over the period 2002–2011. We find support for the role of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in economic growth
TL;DR: This article examined the role of learning and inspiration in developing students' entrepreneurial intentions in the first year in higher education and found that the influence of entrepreneurship education is variable, in some cases even leading to a decrease in entrepreneurial intentions.
Abstract: Drawing on entrepreneurship education (EE) theory, this article examines the role of learning and inspiration in developing students' entrepreneurial intentions in the First Year in Higher Education. This addresses the paucity of research on early university experiences of EE and their influence on entrepreneurial intentions. Using a longitudinal survey of business students at a British university, the authors identify four scenarios related to the participation/non-participation in EE and subsequent increase or decrease of entrepreneurial intentions. A sub-set of those surveyed are interviewed (n = 49) to better understand how their university experience has influenced their entrepreneurial intentions. Findings suggest that the influence of EE is variable, in some cases even leading to a decrease in entrepreneurial intentions. The results contribute to theories of EE and intentions in the early stages of higher education. The authors discuss implications for theory and practice.
TL;DR: Nambisan et al. as discussed by the authors identified and discussed several of these factors and the associated challenges and highlighted the need for additional research, including regulatory policies, digitization, and globalization that shape the emerging opportunities.
Abstract: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona University of California, Davis, Davis, California Correspondence Satish Nambisan, Nancy and Joseph Keithley Professor of Technology Management, The Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7235. Email: satish.nambisan@case.edu Research Summary: In recent decades, two emergent phenomena have jointly transformed the nature and pursuit of entrepreneurship across industries and sectors: open innovation and platformization. Open innovation involves a shift toward more open and distributed models of innovation, while platformization refers to the increasing importance of digital platforms as a venue for value creation and capture. Together, open innovation and platforms have created numerous opportunities for entrepreneurs and their firms—from serving as inputs for innovation for established firms to participating as complementors on existing platforms. While these entrepreneurial opportunities (and conditions) have manifested themselves in rich and varied ways, our understanding of these new forms of entrepreneurship has lagged behind. In this essay, and in this special issue, our objective is to bring a sharper focus on the important research issues and questions that frame open innovation, platforms, and entrepreneurship. Managerial Summary: Digital platforms and open innovation environments have unleashed numerous promising opportunities for entrepreneurs, in industries ranging from consumer software, entertainment, and home appliances to auto, health, and energy. To pursue those opportunities, however, entrepreneurs will need to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that facilitate and constrain them. In this essay, we identify and discuss several of these factors and the associated challenges and highlight the need for additional research. We also consider some of the broader contextual factors, including regulatory policies, digitization, and globalization that shape the emerging opportunities.
TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic literature review of digital entrepreneurship is presented, which provides an up-to-date compilation of key topics and methods discussed in the relevant literature and a research map pointing at further research opportunities for scholars working in the field.
Abstract: Digital entrepreneurship is of high topicality as technological developments and advances in infrastructure create various opportunities for entrepreneurs Society’s great attention to new digital business models is opposed to very little research regarding opportunities, challenges and success factors of digital entrepreneurship The purpose of this paper is to gather the state-of-the-art literature on digital entrepreneurship and to provide an up-to-date compilation of key topics and methods discussed in the relevant literature Furthermore, based on findings of the systematic literature review, a research map pointing at further research opportunities for scholars working in the field will be proposed,Utilising a systematic search and review of literature across the domain whilst following the established methodology of Tranfield et al (2003) combined with the application of a quality threshold for journal selection, 35 articles on digital entrepreneurship could be found relevant for an evidence-informed literature review,Based on a conceptual literature review, six streams of research that deal with digital entrepreneurship are identified and discussed: digital business models; digital entrepreneurship process; platform strategies; digital ecosystem; entrepreneurship education; and social digital entrepreneurship,This systematic literature review identifies current research paths on digital entrepreneurship by structuring the dispersed status quo of research in the identified different areas In addition, future research opportunities to deepen the understanding of digital entrepreneurship are highlighted and pictured in a research map
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the ability of the entrepreneurial activity to simultaneously enhance economic growth, advance environmental objectives, and improve social conditions in developing countries, and found that entrepreneurship in these countries positively contributes to the economic and social dimensions of sustainable development, while its contribution to the environmental dimension is negative.
TL;DR: In this article, a more robust understanding of sustainable university-based entrepreneurial ecosystems through an in-depth analysis of an essential entrepreneurial support element: the university business incubator is presented.
Abstract: The entrepreneurial ecosystem, an emerging and developing theoretical stream, has the potential to expand our understanding of entrepreneurship. In previous research, this concept has been studied from the university perspective, but it has not yet been introduced in the field of entrepreneurial support. Additionally, the growing number of university business incubators has led to increasing research interest in the entrepreneurial support field. This research project seeks to develop a more robust understanding of sustainable university-based entrepreneurial ecosystems through an in-depth analysis of an essential entrepreneurial support element: the university business incubator. Our exploratory research study draws on 48 face-to-face interviews with key members of university-based entrepreneurial ecosystems to explore the operation of three cases through the lens of social capital theory. Our analysis suggests that all three social capital dimensions are relevant to the effective functioning of the university-based entrepreneurial ecosystem and contribute to its sustainability: applying the structural dimension of social capital enhances access to resources; addressing the cognitive dimension strengthens relationships among ecosystem members; and investing in the relational dimension enhances complementarity and trust while the ecosystem evolves. Thus, the interaction of these dimensions may further contribute to the sustainability of the university-based entrepreneurial ecosystem. Enhancing the development and application of the three social capital dimensions as an aspect of proactive management of the entrepreneurship ecosystem has the potential to improve outcomes for ecosystem members.
TL;DR: In this paper, a behavioral measure of social entrepreneurship orientation (SEO) is proposed to capture entrepreneurial behavior in resource-constrained contexts, and five dimensions of SEO: innovativeness, proactiveness, risk management, effectual orientation and social mission orientation.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce a network-centric view to understand how entrepreneurs occupying the role of third-party developers support digital platforms by their choices to link to them, and develop propositions reflecting a dynamic perspective representing two key stages of competition in digital platforms, initial launch and scale-up.
Abstract: Research summary
Research on entrepreneurship has focused primarily on the individual characteristics of founders in driving the success of new ventures offering stand-alone products and/or services. In recent years, we have seen an increase in entrepreneurship in digital platforms—where success requires positioning products and services within dynamic digital networks that depict complex connections among platforms, complementary modules, and consumers. This article introduces key elements of a theory for settings where entrepreneurship success is intricately connected to the moves of other entrepreneurs and coordinated within and across platforms. We introduce a network-centric view to understand how entrepreneurs occupying the role of third-party developers support digital platforms by their choices to link to them. Furthermore, we develop propositions reflecting a dynamic perspective representing two key stages of competition in digital platforms, initial launch, and scale-up. We hope this work guides further theorizing and empirical research in digital platforms and entrepreneurship in general.
Managerial summary
Over the last decade, we have seen a rise in digital entrepreneurs who support platforms such as Apple iOS, Google's Android, Facebook, Twitter, and others. The success of platforms requires support from applications, and entrepreneurs in such settings play a critical role in making some platforms succeed relative to others. Our study provides insight into how digital entrepreneurs can orchestrate strategic moves that allow them to navigate the complex landscape of linking and adapting to different platforms and how these linkage choices can lead to entrepreneurial success.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a framework for measuring and testing the causal effects of a set of entrepreneurial ecosystems factors (eco-factors) on productive entrepreneurship (eco-output).
Abstract: The paper proposes a framework for measuring and testing the causal effects of a set of entrepreneurial ecosystems factors (eco-factors) on productive entrepreneurship (eco-output). Existing research studies provide long lists of relevant eco-factors; however, the causal relations of eco-factors with productive entrepreneurship has not been sufficiently and holistically studied. As the research on entrepreneurial ecosystems continues to develop, there is a need for a measurement framework and subsequent empirical validation of these causal relations. Otherwise, research on entrepreneurial ecosystem risks engaging only in a simple description of successful territories without the possibility of generalizing findings. Therefore, our paper’s contribution is a critical review of the set of eco-factors proposed by the extant literature and propose indicators and related data sources that could be used to measure the indicators more holistically. In an analogous way, with respect to eco-output, our contribution is to trace which indicators are the appropriate proxies for productive entrepreneurship and to explore the data sources for these indicators.
TL;DR: This article conducted a systematic literature review of extant research in agricultural entrepreneurship and identified three key contextual dimensions of the agricultural sector: identity, family, and institutions, which provide promising opportunities for future research and the potential to contribute to and extend current theoretical and empirical analyses of entrepreneurship.
Abstract: Heeding calls for contextualizing entrepreneurship research and for greater attention to the role of sector in entrepreneurship research, we conduct a systematic literature review of extant research in agricultural entrepreneurship. Recent and rapid vertical integration and rationalization within the agricultural sector provides a dynamic setting for scholars to investigate entrepreneurship theory and practice. We identify three key contextual dimensions of the agricultural sector: identity, family, and institutions, which provide promising opportunities for future research and the potential to contribute to and extend current theoretical and empirical analyses of entrepreneurship research.
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04 Jul 2018TL;DR: A review of the extensive literature since 2000 on the personality traits of entrepreneurs can be found in this article, where the authors consider baseline personality traits like the Big-5 model, selfefficacy and innovativeness, locus of control, and the need for achievement.
Abstract: We review the extensive literature since 2000 on the personality traits of entrepreneurs. We first consider baseline personality traits like the Big-5 model, self-efficacy and innovativeness, locus of control, and the need for achievement. We then consider risk attitudes and goals and aspirations of entrepreneurs. Within each area, we separate studies by the type of entrepreneurial behavior considered: entry into entrepreneurship, performance outcomes, and exit from entrepreneurship. This literature shows common results and many points of disagreement, reflective of the heterogeneous nature of entrepreneurship. We label studies by the type of entrepreneurial population studied (e.g., Main Street vs. those backed by venture capital) to identify interesting and irreducible parts of this heterogeneity, while also identifying places where we anticipate future large-scale research and the growing depth of the field are likely to clarify matters. There are many areas, like how firm performance connects to entrepreneurial personality, that are woefully understudied and ripe for major advances if the appropriate cross-disciplinary ingredients are assembled.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a review of the literature to understand how academic entrepreneurship is conceptualized and the extent to which it adopts an ecosystem approach, finding that scholars have largely focused on individual ecosystem elements and characteristics, eschewing strategic and systemic conceptualizations of entrepreneurship ecosystems.
Abstract: Policy-related discussions increasingly view universities as so-called “engines of economic growth”. Recognizing that the economic impact of universities is dependent, at least in part, on the success of university-affiliated entrepreneurial ventures, this paper reviews the extant literature to understand how academic entrepreneurship is conceptualized and the extent to which it adopts an ecosystem approach. We find that scholars have largely focused on individual ecosystem elements and characteristics, eschewing strategic and systemic conceptualizations of entrepreneurship ecosystems. As a result, we argue that the ecosystem perspective has not been fully leveraged to influence policy decisions. We conclude by offering several concrete recommendations on future research directions that, if pursued, would further enhance our understanding of the economic impact of universities.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the increasing trend toward academic capitalism and profit-oriented entrepreneurial practices in the fields of education and research, which occurs as universities become more and more profitable.
Abstract: This forum contribution discusses the increasing trend toward academic capitalism and profit-oriented entrepreneurial practices in the fields of education and research. This occurs as universities,...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated if SMEs from different industries participate in open innovation, highlighting the role of internal and external sources at introducing new products and services, and found that SMEs of Piedmont still have a closed approach to innovation and mainly rely on internal sources to develop new products.
Abstract: Although open innovation has gained more and more attention in innovation management, even for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), still lack heterogeneous explanations on how smaller firms do engage in open innovations and which source of knowledge they exploit most. In this context, this paper investigates if SMEs from different industries participate in open innovation, highlighting the role of internal and external sources at introducing new products and services. Our study shows that SMEs of Piedmont still have a closed approach to innovation and mainly rely on internal sources to develop new products and services. Moreover, with regard to external sources of knowledge, they primarily rely on one source, the customers.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors study the effect of human capital signals on entrepreneurs' success in equity crowdfunding and conclude that only entrepreneurs' business education and entrepreneurial experience significantly contribute to their success in crowdfunding.
Abstract: Grounding on research about the role of signals in the attraction of equity finance, this paper studies the effects of diverse human capital signals on entrepreneurs’ success in equity crowdfunding. We argue that the human capital of an entrepreneur, who launches (alone or with other teammates) an equity crowdfunding campaign to finance her start-up, constitutes a set of signals of the start-up quality. The impact of each human capital signal on entrepreneur’s success in equity crowdfunding depends on both signal fit with start-up quality and signal ambiguity. Empirical estimates on 284 entrepreneurs who launched equity crowdfunding campaigns indicate that only entrepreneurs’ business education and entrepreneurial experience, two human capital signals that have both a good fit with start-up quality and a low degree of ambiguity, significantly contribute to entrepreneurs’ success in equity crowdfunding.