A Model of Social Entrepreneurial Discovery

Social entrepreneurship activity continues to surge tremendously in market and economic systems around the world. Yet, social entrepreneurship theory and understanding lag far behind its practice. For instance, the nature of the entrepreneurial discovery phenomenon, a critical area of inquiry in general entrepreneurship theory, receives no attention in the specific context of social entrepreneurship. To address the gap, we conceptualize social entrepreneurial discovery based on an extension of corporate social responsibility into social entrepreneurship contexts. We develop a model that emphasizes mobilization and timing as underpinnings of social entrepreneurial discovery and offer distinct conceptual aspects and theoretic propositions instrumental to future social entrepreneurship research.     

Socio-cognitive traits and entrepreneurship: The moderating role of economic institutions

We examine how country-level institutional context moderates the relationship between three socio-cognitive traits—entrepreneurial self-efficacy, alertness to new business opportunities, and fear of failure—and opportunity entrepreneurship. To do this, we blend social cognitive theory (SCT) with institutional theory to develop a multi-level model of entrepreneurial entry. We merge data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) surveys and the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) index for 45 countries from 2002 to 2012. Our results, which are based on a multi-level fixed-effects model, suggest that entrepreneurs' self-efficacy and alertness to new opportunities promote opportunity entrepreneurship while fear of failure discourages it. However, the strength of these relationships depends on the institutional context, with entrepreneurial self-efficacy and alertness substantially more likely to lead to new opportunity-driven ventures in countries with higher levels of economic freedom. These results provide suggestive evidence that economic freedom not only channels individual effort to productive entrepreneurial activities, but also affects the extent to which individuals' socio-cognitive resources are likely to mobilized and lead to high-growth entrepreneurship.     

A woman's place is in the… startup! Crowdfunder judgments,implicit bias,and the stereotype content model

We examine investor stereotypes and implicit bias in crowdfunding decisions. Prior research in formal venture capital settings demonstrates that investors tend to have a funding bias against women. However, in crowdfunding – wherein a ‘crowd’ of amateur investors make relatively small investments in new companies – our empirical observations reveal a funding advantage for women. We explain the causal mechanism underlying this counterintuitive finding by drawing upon stereotype content theory and testing a dual path moderated-mediation model. Based on archival data and a follow-up experiment, our findings suggest common gender biases held by amateur investors function to increase female stereotype perceptions in the form of trustworthiness judgments, which subsequently increases investors' willingness to invest in early-stage women-led ventures. We discuss our results with specific attention to how our findings extend the entrepreneurship funding literature as well as the gender dynamics literature in entrepreneurship and organization research more broadly.     

Advancing societal grand challenge research at the interface of entrepreneurship and international business: A review and research agenda

Societal grand challenges are increasingly attracting the attention of both entrepreneurship and international business scholars. While entrepreneurship focuses on the opportunities that emerge and need for bold and innovative solutions, international business research emphasizes the global reach of the challenges and role of multinational enterprises. Although both conversations are insightful, we argue that examining one without the other gives an incomplete picture on how to address grand challenges. In this paper, we conduct a systematic review of the conversation on grand challenges in the international business and entrepreneurship literature. Upon synthesizing the results, we create an integrated framework and research agenda for viewing grand challenges through an international entrepreneurial lens.     

Should I stay or should I go? Career choice intentions of students with family business background

Personal and motivational patterns of intentional founders have been researched in great depth; however, antecedents to career choices of intentional successors have been conspicuously missing in entrepreneurship research. By drawing on theory of planned behavior, we investigate how intentional founders, successors, and employees differ in terms of locus of control and entrepreneurial self-efficacy as well as independence and innovation motives. We find that transitive likelihood of career intent depends on degree of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the independence motive. Unexpectedly, we see that high levels of internal locus of control lead to a preference of employment, which challenges traditional entrepreneurship research and suggests that the feasibility of an entrepreneurial career path does not automatically make it desirable. Our findings suggest that students with family business background are pessimistic about being in control in an entrepreneurial career, but optimistic about their efficacy to pursue an entrepreneurial career.     

“I know I can,but I don't fit”: Perceived fit,self-efficacy,and entrepreneurial intention

While extant literature generally suggests a positive relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention, several moderators have been identified – suggesting possible boundary conditions on that relationship. This paper introduces perceived person-entrepreneurship fit to entrepreneurship and shows that it moderates the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention. Three studies are conducted which illuminate the utility of randomized experiments and methodological approaches to address limitations in the interpretation of empirical results. Studies 1 and 2 are randomized experiments to examine causality; Study 3 contains two correlational surveys to triangulate the results by examining whether the proposed effects withstand the influence of confounding variables in real-life. The findings indicate that when a strong perception of fit with entrepreneurship is achieved, entrepreneurial intention is strongly predicted by entrepreneurial self-efficacy. In contrast, if one perceives a low level of fit or no fit, entrepreneurial intention will be low, regardless of entrepreneurial self-efficacy.     

政府规制下众创空间创业生态系统发展的演化博弈分析

为应对经济转型与大众创业难的重大挑战，发展众创空间创业生态系统以推动大众创业、万众创新已成为我国政府当务之急，而政府扶持是促进众创空间创业生态系统健康发展的重要手段。运用MATLAB仿真分析和演化博弈理论，研究众创空间创业生态系统发展过程中三方参与者，政府、众创空间及创业企业的初始意愿以及政府规制对三方参与者行为策略演化的影响。研究发现：（1）相较于政府对创业企业直接补贴模式，政府对众创空间进行补贴更有利于众创空间向提供优质创业服务和创业企业向接受孵化方向演化。（2）众创空间创业生态系统发展初期，政府行为策略向积极规制方向演化，待众创空间创业生态系统发展成熟后，政府行为策略向消极规制方向演化。（3）相较于政府规制，众创空间创业生态系统发展中三方参与主体的初始意愿对三方行为策略演化的方向和速度影响更加显著。政府积极规制初始意愿、众创空间提供优质创业服务初始意愿以及创业企业接受孵化初始意愿较低时，政府规制对众创空间和创业企业行为演化的影响微弱，但当各主体相应初始意愿较高时，较低的政府规制水平即可实现较高的预期目标。     

Towards a theory of entrepreneurial teams

This article examines the role of entrepreneurial teams in processes of entrepreneurial discovery. It addresses two main questions. The first investigates the implications of economic theory for the possibility of team entrepreneurship. Because leading economic theories focus almost exclusively upon individual decision-makers, we propose a broader notion of entrepreneurship that includes enterprising teams as well as individuals. We define entrepreneurship as a profit-seeking problem-solving process that takes place under conditions of structural uncertainty.The second question examines the conditions that are conducive to joint entrepreneurial action and the formation of entrepreneurial teams. We suggest that bounded structural uncertainty and perceived strong interdependence arising from common interest can jointly “prime” team entrepreneurship.     

Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis for a finer-grained understanding of entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship theory has largely been developed and tested using symmetrical correlational methods, effectively describing the sample-average respondent and subsuming individual differences. Such methods necessarily limit investigation of asymmetries that are evident in entrepreneurship, and provide only a single explanation that belies the multiple pathways to entrepreneurship observed in practice. This paper employs a case-based approach—fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA)—to identify configurations of antecedent attributes of individuals in groups within samples, thereby revealing asymmetries and multiple entrepreneurial pathways that are otherwise hidden in the data. We explain the application of fsQCA to reveal these common issues in entrepreneurship; demonstrate how fsQCA complements correlational methods and offers finer-grained understanding of individual entrepreneurial behavior; and offer a comprehensive research agenda to build new entrepreneurship theory.     

Conceptualizing knowledge-based entrepreneurship networks: perspectives from the literature

Efforts to promote and support knowledge-based entrepreneurship as a vehicle for economic development are increasingly focused on the importance of networks to entrepreneurial success. This article reviews the extant empirical literature and finds a striking consensus among multiple disciplinary perspectives: not only are networks important, network characteristics also mediate resources important to entrepreneurial performance. Unfortunately, current conceptual frameworks do not adequately account for the unique nature of knowledge spillovers and their role in innovation and economic dynamism. The article suggests that scholars embrace the nascent knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship to guide future empirical research on entrepreneurship networks and focus intently on their impact on entrepreneurial performance—and therefore economic growth.     

Aligning regional and business strategies: Looking inside the Basque Country entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem

The current socio‐economic scenarios have generated several challenges for any organization. Regional authorities have designed policies that combine supply–demand needs and innovative entrepreneurship programs. The alignment between regional and business strategies has become critical to ensure the necessary resources, skills and capabilities in the region. This article analyses the alignment of regional strategies (entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems) and business strategies (development of new entrepreneurial innovations). By adopting mixed theoretical approaches, we proposed a conceptual model to understand the role of institutional strategies on the definition of business strategies. Given the nature of this study, our methodological design combines a case study approach and an action research approach. Our results provide insights into the positive outcomes generated when regional strategies and business strategies are aligned.     

Entrepreneurial legacy: Toward a theory of how some family firms nurture transgenerational entrepreneurship

Research shows that family firms are less entrepreneurial, on average, especially after the founder departs. There are notable exceptions, however, and so we build a new theory to explain how these exceptional firms accomplish transgenerational entrepreneurship. Specifically, we conducted in-depth interviews with owners and (potential) successors in 21 German wineries that are, on average, in their 11th generation. We introduce entrepreneurial legacy, which we 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. Entrepreneurial legacy thus helps explain transgenerational entrepreneurship and has implications for family-firm, imprinting, and succession research.     

Moving on from nascent entrepreneurship: measuring cross-national differences in the transition to new business ownership

Nascent entrepreneurship and new business ownership are subsequent stages in the entrepreneurial process. We illustrate how information from the largest internationally harmonized database on entrepreneurship, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor project, can be used to approximate the entrepreneurial process. We make a methodological contribution by computing the ratio of new business ownership to nascent entrepreneurship in a way that reflects the transition from nascent to new business ownership and provides cross-nationally comparable information on the efficiency of the entrepreneurial process for 48 countries. We report evidence for the validity of the transition ratio by benchmarking it against transition rates obtained from longitudinal studies and by correlating it with commonly used entrepreneurship indicators and macro-level economic indices. The transition ratio enables future cross-national research on the entrepreneurial process by providing a reliable and valid indicator for one key transition in this process.     

International entrepreneurial culture—Toward a comprehensive opportunity-based operationalization of international entrepreneurship

Despite the abundance of international entrepreneurship studies, there is a need to develop valid measures of the international entrepreneurship construct. Based on prior conceptual studies, we contribute to the literature by advancing a scale of the international entrepreneurial culture (IEC) that considers opportunity-based behavior; and, aims to capture the overarching context of international entrepreneurship. We followed established scale development practices and conducted a research on UK and US medium-sized firms. Our proposed six-dimensional operationalization of IEC, which sufficiently matches the initial conceptualization, consists of international entrepreneurial orientation; international market orientation; international motivation; international learning orientation; international networking orientation with competitors; and, international networking orientation with non-competitors. The main implication from this study is that international entrepreneurship scholars can use in future research these six dimensions of the encompassing IEC context rather than a confined international entrepreneurship construct.     

Perceived uncertainty and behavioral logic: Temporality and unanticipated consequences in the new venture creation process

In this study, drawing on effectuation theory, we combine analytical strategies for process data to examine inductively and theorize how founder teams' perceptions of uncertainty and behavioral logics develop during new venture creation processes. The results reveal four phases and suggest a possible evolution from a causal conditional relationship between perceived uncertainty and behavioral logics to an integrative relationship. We bring to light the notion of temporality and unanticipated consequences, discuss their central roles in perceived uncertainty, effectuation, and causation, and offer revelatory insights into why and when effectuation is used in relation to uncertainty and entrepreneurial action.     

Making a first impression as a start-up: Strategies to overcome low initial trust perceptions in digital innovation adoption

High failure rates of digital innovations by start-ups indicate that consumers' initial trust perceptions are make-or-break for their survival. Hence, start-ups have to design adequate business models to manage consumers' initial trust perceptions of digital innovations. Five experiments explore how start-ups can signal trustworthiness in order to overcome low initial trust perceptions and boost adoption. We find three specific design strategies of start-ups' digital business models – customer ratings, benefit communication, and revenue model – to be effective to overcome low initial trust perceptions and to increase adoption of digital innovations. The findings demonstrate that initial trust serves as a critical mediator in the relationship between these design strategies and consumers' adoption intentions. Additionally, the chosen revenue model has differential effects on privacy concerns, which mediate the relationship between revenue model and initial trust. The present empirical insights help start-ups to craft business model design strategies for successful digital innovation launch.     

Opportunities to Improve Entrepreneurship Education: Contributions Considering Brazilian Challenges

This paper identifies challenges and opportunities for enhancing higher education in entrepreneurship considering student perceptions concerning both their demand for entrepreneurship education and their entrepreneurial intention as well as previous studies that present the points of view of experts. The main focus is Brazilian higher education, but the results address challenges that cross borders, such as the need for a practical approach. The study analyzed the data from the Brazilian version of the 2011 Global University Entrepreneurial Spirit Students' Survey (GUESSS) obtained with an online questionnaire answered by 25,751 Brazilian students from 37 colleges and universities. To give a reference for a better understanding of Brazilian statistics, data were compared to those of the 2011 international GUESSS involving also 25 other countries and 64,079 responses from them. Three hypotheses were tested. The results show that entrepreneurship education has a significant negative effect on student entrepreneurial intention and also on self‐efficacy. The same occurs between entrepreneurial intention and students' demand for entrepreneurship education. Brazilian students present higher levels of entrepreneurial intention and are significantly more motivated to take courses and activities in entrepreneurship than those students in the international sample. Approximately 50 percent of Brazilian students are potential entrepreneurs. One of the opportunities identified is to take advantage of students' positive attitudes and their high demand. The opportunities could play an important role in overcoming the challenges recognized, among which are the need for a more practical approach and the need for larger and diversified educational offerings beyond business planning. The challenges make Neck and Greene's recommendations, presented in a 2011 issue of JSBM, particularly important for Brazil. The last three sections propose different explanations, suggestions for more research, and practical recommendations.     

Entrepreneurship and well-being: Past,present, and future

Entrepreneurship research typically emphasizes firm-level outcomes such as growth and performance. However, people pursue entrepreneurship for deeply personal, idiosyncratic reasons. Therefore, as in other self-organized human pursuits, how entrepreneurship relates to fulfillment and well-being is of utmost importance. In this paper, we provide an overview of the well-being concept, related research, and its connection to entrepreneurship. We define entrepreneurial well-being as the experience of satisfaction, positive affect, infrequent negative affect, and psychological functioning in relation to developing, starting, growing, and running an entrepreneurial venture. We explain this definition of entrepreneurial well-being and review significant developments in our field and the broader field of well-being. Highlights of social, technological and institutional trends illustrate key areas for future research that can enhance our understanding of these phenomena. The eight papers in this special issue focus on entrepreneurial well-being each offering a specific perspective on how scholars can theorize and study the antecedents and consequences of entrepreneurship related to well-being.     

Ageing and entrepreneurial preferences

Previous research on age and entrepreneurship assumed homogeneity and downplayed age-related differences in the motives and aims underlying enterprising behaviour. We argue that the heterogeneity of entrepreneurship influences how the level of entrepreneurial activity varies with age. Using a sample of 2,566 respondents from 27 European countries, we show that entrepreneurial activity increases almost linearly with age for individuals who prefer to only employ themselves (self-employers), whereas it increases up to a critical threshold age (late 40s) and decreases thereafter for those who aspire to hire workers (owner-managers). Age has a considerably smaller effect on entrepreneurial behaviour for those who do not prefer self-employment but are pushed into it by lack of alternative employment opportunities (reluctant entrepreneurs). Our results question the conventional wisdom that entrepreneurial activity declines with age and suggest that effective responses to demographic changes require policy makers to pay close attention to the heterogeneity of entrepreneurial preferences.