Credit-rationing and entrepreneurial experience: Evidence from a resource deficit context

This study explores the following novel research question: Do attributes relating to the resources and signals of lead entrepreneurs, particularly prior business ownership experience quality signals, reduce the probability that entrepreneurs will be chronic credit-rationed entrepreneurs in a developing economy context with resource deficiencies? Guided by insights from signalling, resource-based view of the firm and human capital theory, profiles of credit-rationed entrepreneurs (i.e. debt finance obtained but below the amount requested) are highlighted. The length of the debt finance gap was considered with regard to temporary (over one year), major (over two years) and chronic (over three years) finance gaps. We find support for our hypotheses relating to entrepreneurs whose firms are more innovative being more likely to be chronically credit-rationed, whilst firms with partners, entrepreneurs with longer prior business ownership experience and habitual entrepreneurs are less likely to be credit-rationed. The interaction with serial or portfolio entrepreneur reduces the chronic credit-rationing problem faced by innovative firms. A case for developing linkages between inexperienced novice entrepreneurs and habitual entrepreneurs, particularly successful portfolio entrepreneurs, is made. Notably, we suggest that building upon the experienced entrepreneurs who do exist may be particularly beneficial in resource deficit contexts such as Ghana     

Antecedents of the small firm effect: the role of knowledge spillover and blocked mobility for employee entrepreneurial intentions

Small firms are said to produce more entrepreneurs than larger ones (“small firm effect”). Applying existing theories, we analyze how different management positions influence employee entrepreneurship in small firms. Based on a panel study of 4832 cases, we provide evidence for the fact that small firms indeed produce more entrepreneurs. Moreover, we show that lower management positions of small firm employees are responsible for this small firm effect. We conclude that small firms seem to create an environment in which employees on low management positions strongly benefit from knowledge spillover effects as they are educated necessary skills, knowledge and expertise, and are able to build up networks conducive to entrepreneurship (“knowledge spillover effect”), while not having the multifaceted advancement opportunities as in large companies (“blocked mobility effect”).     

Beyond the enclave? Break-outs into mainstream markets and multicultural hybridism in ethnic firms

The literature on immigrant entrepreneurship has richly described the characteristics and peculiarities of ethnic businesses catering to enclave markets. However, several indications suggest that immigrant-owned firms are increasingly entering mainstream markets and changing both their internal structures and their external networks with resource providers. One of the most substantial changes, which has been overlooked by researchers, consists of the appearance of what we define as ‘multiculturally hybrid firms’, which are firms that rely on inter-ethnic managerial or labour resources to carry out their activities. Therefore, in this paper we provide an understanding of the variables that affect the recourse to solutions of multicultural hybridism in the entrepreneurial teams and personnel of immigrant-owned firms. We conduct our empirical analyses on data collected through interviews on a sample of 130 immigrant entrepreneurs in Italy. Our results show that multicultural hybridism is mainly driven by the size of the founding team, the business's maturity, the entrepreneurs' host-country language competence and by entrepreneurs' motivation by individual goals rather than community goals. This research advances our knowledge about immigrant entrepreneurship by focusing on firm-level dimensions such as the diversity of entrepreneurial teams and employees, which are increasingly relevant in our multicultural societies.     

Entrepreneurial resources and speed of entrepreneurial success in an emerging market: the moderating effect of entrepreneurship

This study probes into the effects of entrepreneurial resources on speed of entrepreneurial success and attempts to find if the entrepreneurship moderates the relationship. Accordingly, this study validates the hypothesis using the Cox regression model. Based on the empirical analytical result of 374 small and medium Chinese enterprises, for entrepreneurs with stronger entrepreneurship, the effect of their owned funds on speed of entrepreneurial success is more significant than those without entrepreneurship. In addition, for entrepreneurs with stronger entrepreneurship, the effect of network ties on speed of entrepreneurial success is superior to those without entrepreneurship.     

Mapping the strategic factor market for sport entrepreneurship

Previous scholarship in entrepreneurship and sport management has highlighted their symbiotic nature. The degree to which sport is embedded in society makes it an ideal platform from which to launch economically-motivated entrepreneurial endeavors that may also be leveraged to generate socially transformative causes. Despite this important realization, efforts to understand sport entrepreneurship have been limited in their ability to describe the broad trends affecting sport entrepreneurs. This study uses a sample of 967 sport-related transactions by private equity and venture capital firms between 1988 and 2016 to chart some of these trends. In doing so, we hope to provide a solid foundation on which future sport entrepreneurship research can build. The results accentuate some interesting paradoxes in how private equity and venture capitalist firms invest in and divest from sport-related entrepreneurial ventures.     

A longitudinal study of habitual entrepreneurs: starters and acquirers

This study provides insights into the characteristics and behaviour of habitual starter entrepreneurs (i.e. individuals who have established more than one business) and habitual acquirer entrepreneurs (i.e. individuals who have purchased/acquired more than one business). A human capital perspective is utilized to illustrate that the human capital accumulated by a habitual entrepreneur may influence their subsequent behaviour. Prior business ownership experience is discussed in relation to an entrepreneur's human capital accumulation, as well as their search and business opportunity identification behaviour. A case study approach is used to develop propositions that highlight the similarities and differences between habitual starter and acquirer entrepreneurs. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Guest editorial: Female and ethnic minority entrepreneurship

There has been an increasing level of interest in diversity in small business enterprises. This diversity has been largely focused on female and ethnic minority entrepreneurs. Although there is evidence that female entrepreneurship can have a positive impact on economic prosperity, levels of earnings remain low. The articles in this special issue further our understanding of female and minority entrepreneurs. They examine important topics such as the differences between male and female entrepreneurs in terms of confidence, growth expectations, entrepreneurial orientation and social capital, developing management skills in female entrepreneurs, their management competencies and refugee entrepreneurship.     

Learning from past experience: Footnotes on mindfulness and habitual entrepreneurship

Although scholars have long recognized that failure is endemic to entrepreneurial activity, they have implicitly argued that prior entrepreneurial experience positively affects opportunity discovery and opportunity exploitation. In contrast, I argue that the degree of mindfulness with which entrepreneurs use prior experience can both help and harm their ability to discover and exploit opportunities. I draw on several literatures, including studies of habitual entrepreneurship, behavioral learning theory, and theories of mindfulness, to develop a framework that yields insights about how, when and why habitual entrepreneurs’ use of past experience might improve the performance of their new ventures.     

Entrepreneurial innovativeness and growth ambitions in thick vs. thin regional innovation systems

Research in economic geography has paid increasing attention to regional innovation systems (RISs) as a potential vehicle for growth and development. Yet despite an increasing amount of research studying RISs in particular and economic regions in general, we have limited knowledge about their influence on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. We respond to this knowledge gap and study if entrepreneurs’ localization in thick vs. thin RISs affects their innovativeness and growth ambitions. Thick RISs are predominately urbanized spaces that include organizations of higher-level education, R&D intensive milieus, and an ample industry sector, while thin RISs to a lesser degree encompass these features. Empirically, we analyse 870–917 entrepreneurial firms in Agder of Southern Norway. Based on trade and labour markets, as defined by the EU’s classification of local administrative units (LAU1), we identify two thick and six thin RISs in Agder. Econometric analyses show that entrepreneurs located in thick RISs are more innovative than entrepreneurs located in thin RISs, but there are no significant differences concerning entrepreneurs’ growth ambitions. In light of our findings, we discuss the potential agency role played by entrepreneurial firms at a micro level on path dependent features of RISs at a macro level.     

From resource munificence to ecosystem integration: the case of government sponsorship in St. Louis

Government sponsorship of entrepreneurship has become a popular policy tool in the last 15 years. Despite this popularity, past academic studies have largely focused on firm-level survival rates and treated the effects of government sponsorship in isolation, which fails to capture the full effect of the sponsorship. That is, the objectives of the public sector include enhancing the macro-level entrepreneurial environment of the region as well as the success of individual firms. We expand research in this area through a case study in St. Louis, Missouri. We focus on the Arch Grants, a public–private coalition that provides $50,000 to 20 winners through their annual competition. Based on interviews of 46 recipient firms and 15 support organizations, we first demonstrate how government sponsorship can create a cohort of entrepreneurs who are able to learn from each other about business strategy, local mentors and other resources. Second, we uncover the process through which sponsorship can facilitate coordination among local entrepreneurship support organizations. Thus, we conclude that the evaluation of government sponsorship should go beyond the traditional firm-level performance measurement and consider the integration and enhancement of the local entrepreneurship ecosystem.     

Strategic entrepreneurship and competitive advantage of established firms: evidence from the digital TV industry

Although strategic entrepreneurship in established firms is recognized as a vital source of sustainable competitive advantage, this field has no clearly developed research paradigm. This study proposes a conceptual framework to investigate dimensions of strategic entrepreneurship and its function in sustainable competitive advantage of established firms in a modern volatile environment, through the lens of the dynamic capability view. By conducting a systematic literature review of previous research documents and considering conceptual interrelationships between strategic entrepreneurship and dynamic capabilities, we propose categories that comprise dimensions of a firm’s strategic entrepreneurship: environmental sensing, opportunity seizing, strategic flexibility, entrepreneurial orientation and organizational learning. We establish a conceptual framework of strategic entrepreneurship in which entrepreneurs’ managerial capabilities of environmental sensing, opportunity seizing, strategic flexibility and entrepreneurial orientation closely interact with organizational learning, thereby facilitating sustainable performance of established firms. Following empirical studies of established firms in the digital TV manufacturing industry, the proposed conceptual framework suggests that each dimension of strategic entrepreneurship plays a critical role in competitive advantage of firms. In addition, case study results indicate that a firm’s position and evolutionary path form antecedent factors influencing entrepreneurs’ managerial capabilities and organizational learning of established firms.     

Gender and the commercialization of university science: academic founders of spinout companies

There is a great deal of interest in Europe and the USA on the commercialization of university science, particularly the creation of spinout companies from the science base. Despite considerable research on academic entrepreneurship, female entrepreneurship in general, and the causes of under-representation of female scientists in academic institutions, there has been little research on the influence of gender on academic entrepreneurship.

The study researches female founders of UK university spinout companies using information from the Internet on company founders of spinout companies from 20 leading universities. The proportion of female founders at 12% is very low. The paper explores reasons for this low representation through follow-up postal interviews of the 21 female founders identified, and a male control sample. Under-representation of female academic staff in science research is the dominant but not the only factor to explain low entrepreneurial rates amongst female scientists.

Owing to the low number of women in senior research positions in many leading science departments, few women had the chances to lead a spinout. This is a critical factor as much impetus for commercialization was initially inspired by external interest rather than internal evaluation of a commercial opportunity. External interest tended to target senior academics, which proportionally are mostly male. A majority of the women surveyed tended to be part of entrepreneurial teams involving senior male colleagues.

As a whole both male and female science entrepreneurs displayed similar motivations to entrepreneurship, but collectively as scientists differed appreciably from non academic entrepreneurs. Women science entrepreneurs also faced some additional problems in areas such as the conflict between work and home life and networks.     

Innovative outcomes from migrant entrepreneurship: a matter of whether you think you can,or think you can’t

The entrepreneurship literature has exposed some of the most influential antecedents of innovative entrepreneurship. Prior research has also identified crucial features of migrant entrepreneurship. This article employs lessons from these two areas and draws on social cognitive theory to explore the main drivers of innovative ventures among migrants. We center the attention on entrepreneurs, differentiating them between two management strategies: imitation or innovation; and we study the role of perceived self-efficacy, prior entrepreneurial experience, and social capital into the likelihood of acting innovative. For our empirical analysis, we primarily use data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for three years covering 2016–2018 and gathering 5713 observations of early-stage entrepreneurs from Chile. Our estimations show that being a migrant is in itself an insufficient condition to influence seeking substantial differentiation from what is traditionally offered in the local market; instead, we confirm that a migrant who feels capable of successfully starting a business will be likely to conduct innovative entrepreneurship. Contributions of these findings for theoretical and practical advances of the field are discussed.

     

Fostering entrepreneurship: impact of specialization and diversity in education

The present research aims to enhance our understanding of how prospective entrepreneurs benefit from specialized entrepreneurship education combined with a diversified educational experience. We find intriguing evidence that depth or specialization of entrepreneurship education is not enough for wealth creation from future entrepreneurial activities. Instead, it is breadth or diversity of educational experiences that positively influences future wealth creation, in terms of both the entrepreneur’s personal income as well as personal net worth. The results of the study have important implications for entrepreneurship educators and their students, researchers, policy makers, as well as nascent entrepreneurs.     

Evaluating the impacts of government policy through the long view of life history

The research reported in this paper uses life history analyses of Indigenous entrepreneurs to address the following question: How do individuals engaged in entrepreneuring incorporate their experience of government policy into their self-narratives, and what affects are apparent on attitudes towards, and the objectives of, their entrepreneurial activity? Subsequently, the paper makes two contributions to conceptual debates within entrepreneurship and small business studies. Firstly, the paper shows the value of life history methodology narratives in providing insights into entrepreneuring processes over time, particularly in understanding how to evaluate the impact of enterprise animation policies. Secondly, the particular focus upon Indigenous entrepreneurs affords some purchase on recent debates relating to the purpose and potential of enterprise policies aimed at those defined as socially and economically excluded [Blackburn, R., and M. Ram. 2006. Fix of fixation? The contributions and limitations of entrepreneurship and small firms to combating social exclusion. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development 18, no. 1: 73–89]. The paper's findings show that life history analysis has an important role to play in developing our understanding of entrepreneurship as a process. Moreover, evaluations of enterprise policy should pay more attention to temporally extensive impacts on individuals over their life course, and not limit evaluative efforts to programme specific factors.     

Cross-cultural analysis of the global mindset and the internationalization behavior of small firms

This research analyzes the influence of a global mindset on the internationalization behavior of Norwegian and Portuguese small firms. It specifically sets out to assess the role of global orientation of the entrepreneur and firm perspectives on the global market. Based on a sample of 354 small firms, we used structural equation modeling to conduct our analysis. The results show the differing importance of a range of factors in explaining global mindset in different contexts. The global mindset of Norwegian entrepreneurs conditions their behavior and international experience, while for Portuguese entrepreneurs it affects the cognitive domain and their technical expertise. Global mindset and global orientation have more relevant effects on the internationalization behavior of Norwegian firms than that of Portuguese firms.     

Influence of economic crisis on new SME survival: reality or fiction?

The aim of this research was to analyse the survival of new ventures during periods of economic crisis. The article compares survival probability during growth and crisis periods. An empirical study was used to analyse new venture survival probability. Results show that new firms have a greater likelihood of surviving during crisis periods than they do during growth periods. An additional aim of the study was to analyse the survival probability of opportunity and necessity entrepreneurs during crisis periods. Results show that gaps in survival likelihood between opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship are bigger during times of crisis than they are during growth periods.     

Pursuing sustainable development through green entrepreneurship: An institutional perspective

Pursuing sustainable development through green entrepreneurship has been advocated, conceptualized, and empirically examined in the recent environmental management and entrepreneurship literature. However, green entrepreneurs are embedded in institutional environments that may discourage them from embracing sustainable development because of the “paradox of embedded agency.” How can a firm overcome the liability of such an agency issue and escape what has become known as a “green prison”? This study proposes that, because international venturing exposes firms to foreign institutions, it provides them with opportunities for institutional learning. Thus, we examine how international venturing influences green entrepreneurship which, in turn, impacts firm performance. Specifically, based on institutional theory, this study develops a firm-level green entrepreneurship framework with three dimensions: green initiatives (a firm's active adoption of green practices), received government green support (benefits that a firm gains from the government by adapting to governmental incentives, programs, and policies related to green practices), and green political influence (a firm's attempts to influence legislation that enacts laws, rules, and regulations related to green practices). The results obtained by analyzing 152 firms that engage in international venturing activities and 151 firms that do not show that international venturing is positively associated with green initiatives and government green support while these two factors further directly enhance firm performance and mediate the effects of international venturing on performance.     

Toward a sustainable conceptualization of dependent variables in entrepreneurship research

Entrepreneurship researchers have yet to explore the full range variance that occurs in entrepreneurial value creation because we have focused almost exclusively on financial performance as the dependent variable in our research. However, such arbitrary narrowness is not supported by research, which shows entrepreneurs to not focus exclusively on income maximization. Consistent with calls for an expanded view of the consequences of entrepreneurship, we develop a typology of entrepreneurship dependent variables that supports broadening the scope of entrepreneurship research to include economic, environmental and social value. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Historicizing the ‘ethnic’ in ethnic entrepreneurship: The case of the ethnic Chinese in Bangkok

This paper aims to come to a better understanding of the meaning of ‘ethnic’ in ethnic entrepreneurship for second- and third-generation ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in Bangkok, Thailand. Research on ethnic Chinese entrepreneurship in Southeast Asia typically investigates the dominance, attributed to specific ‘Chinese’ cultural values and strong intra-ethnic networks, of the ethnic Chinese in business and entrepreneurship. Our research among second- and third-generations shows an inclination of the interviewees to emphasize the irrelevance of their ‘ethnic’ Chinese background in entrepreneurship. To understand the meanings of the expressed irrelevance, we argue that it is constructive to incorporate a historical/generational approach of the ethnic group (migration history, nationalism) and of the business (social organization) into the study of ethnic entrepreneurship. The contribution to ethnic entrepreneurship research is threefold. Firstly, we show how a generational lens provides a more nuanced understanding of the ‘ethnic’ in ethnic entrepreneurship. Secondly, we show how incorporating the historical context helps to position business conduct in the social/societal experiences of entrepreneurs. Finally, our case study of ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in Thailand brings an Asian perspective to ethnic entrepreneurship debates that generally concern European and North American research studies and thus hopes to inspire future comparative research.