Entrepreneurship as a solution to poverty in developed economies

While entrepreneurship in developing economies at the base of the pyramid is receiving growing attention, scholars have devoted less effort to exploring entrepreneurship as a solution to poverty in advanced economies. Yet, poverty rates have not meaningfully changed in most developed economies in 50 years, and the income gap between rich and poor continues to widen. In this article, we examine entrepreneurship as a source of empowerment for the economically disadvantaged. We explore the nature of poverty and its implications for various aspects of entrepreneurship, identify problematic aspects of the typical low-income startup, and present the SPODER conceptual framework for fostering entrepreneurial development among the poor: (S) supportive infrastructure, (P) preparation of the entrepreneur; (O) expanded opportunity horizons; (D) finding sources of differentiation; (E) a well-designed economic model; and (R) leveraging community resources. We conclude by drawing from the framework implications for those involved in breaking the cycle of poverty.     

Do young managers in a developing country have stronger entrepreneurial intentions? Theory and debate

We examine whether the young managers in a developing country have stronger entrepreneurial intention than those in a developed country, within the context of the Theory of Planned Behavior. This study is based on the data from two distinct and strategically important countries: India and Japan. We analyze the linkage between entrepreneurial intention, country culture and proactive behavior. We postulate a theoretical model to incite others to pursue further research. Bateman and Crant’s (1993) questionnaire was used for the measurement of the aforementioned variables. We found that the managers in a developing country need not have stronger entrepreneurial intentions.     

Entrepreneurial aspirations, motivations, and their drivers

Several drivers of entrepreneurial aspirations and entrepreneurial motivations are investigated using country-level data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for the years 2005 and 2006. We estimate a two-equation model explaining aspirations using motivations and socioeconomic variables, and explaining motivations using socioeconomic variables. We find that countries with a higher incidence of increase-wealth-motivated entrepreneurs tend to have a higher prevalence of high-job-growth and export-oriented entrepreneurship and that a country’s level of social security relates negatively to the prevalence of innovative, high-job-growth, and export-oriented entrepreneurship. We also find that the increase-wealth motive mediates the relationship between socioeconomic variables and entrepreneurial aspirations.

Entrepreneurship as a solution to poverty

Individuals living in poverty remain a critical issue. This special issue focuses on how entrepreneurship can help to solve such poverty. Rather than viewing those in poverty as a market for goods, the solution lies in understanding how to help those living in poverty create their own businesses. Ultimately, entrepreneurship among those in poverty will create a long lasting solution to their poverty. Herein, we initially examine the extant knowledge about entrepreneurship. We then examine where future research on this important topic should move. Finally, we introduce the five articles that make up this special issue. These five articles came from the initial 71 submissions and enhance our knowledge about entrepreneurship as a pathway to reducing poverty.     

Emergence of the entrepreneurial society

Once dominated by a managed economy, the United States—and, eventually, the entire world—came to acknowledge the incredible power of the entrepreneurial movement of the 1990s. The entrepreneurial society refers to places where entrepreneurship has emerged as a focal point for economic growth, sustainable job creation, and competitiveness in global markets. This article explains why and how the entrepreneurial society emerged, and why it is key to taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by globalization by enhancing the innovation prowess of a nation.     

发展中国家对华反倾销的影响与动因——与发达国家的比较分析

在全球反倾销调查趋于下降的情况下,中国面临的反倾销形势依然严峻,发展中国家逐渐成为对华反倾销的主体。文章通过与发达国家比较,实证分析发展中国家对华反倾销的影响及成因,并提出相应的对策。     

贸易自由化会促进个体创业吗

创业活力是私营企业数量增长的直接基础,同时中国的私营企业数量伴随着改革开放的进程迅猛增长,这是否意味着贸易开放会提升创业活力呢?本文对这一问题进行了研究。本文使用2011年、2013年和2015年三年的中国家庭金融调查数据,实证考察了贸易自由化对个体创业倾向的影响。研究发现,贸易自由化显著提高了个体的创业倾向;并且贸易自由化对不同群体的创业倾向存在异质性影响,即更能促进女性群体、低技能群体、16～30岁青年群体创业。进一步分析发现,贸易自由化对创业的促进作用主要体现在附加值较低的行业上。综合来看,贸易自由化提升了中国经济的整体创业活力,促进了社会各群体均衡就业,使人力资源得到了更充分的利用,但创业质量有待进一步提高。     

Experience as a catalyst of export destinations: The ambidextrous connection between international experience and past entrepreneurial experience

This paper examines how different forms of accumulated exploitable knowledge—i.e., export experience with the current firm and past entrepreneurial experience—stimulate export destinations, defined as the number of foreign markets where businesses sell their products/services. The proposed hypotheses are tested on a unique sample of Costa Rican entrepreneurial businesses for 2017. Results from the sequential deductive triangulation analysis (QUAN → qual) reveal that the ambidextrous connection between export experience with the current firm and past entrepreneurial experience is an essential prerequisite for explaining export destination figures. Also, the positive effect of export experience with the current business on export destinations is more prevalent among firms created by serial entrepreneurs. These findings corroborate our argument line on the importance of generative-based learning processes. Furthermore, the results of the qualitative analysis suggest that task-specific international experience and experience gained through past business venturing are relevant micro-foundations of international business expansion in the context of the export destinations of entrepreneurial firms.     

Entrepreneurial inception: The role of imprinting in entrepreneurial action

Recent research highlights that founders' early decisions and the environmental conditions at founding each imprint upon a new venture in ways that affect growth and survival. However, we know much less about how the entrepreneur is imprinted and how the outcome of this imprinting process influences the entrepreneur and the venture. Through semi-structured interviews and content analysis, our study examines entrepreneurs' formative experiences during sensitive periods of transition, which we refer to as sources of imprint. We illustrate how these sources of imprint impact entrepreneurial decision making and explain how they guide entrepreneurs' decisions as they progress through their entrepreneurial careers. In doing so, we improve our understanding of how entrepreneurs navigate the entrepreneurial process.     

Entrepreneurs' responses to semi-formal illegitimate institutional arrangements

While prior research has discussed how entrepreneurs deal with formal institutional voids and informal institutional environments, little is known about how entrepreneurs respond to institutional arrangements involving illegitimate actors. We define such arrangements as semi-formal illegitimate institutions. Using an exploratory study, we examine one such arrangement in Guatemala City, where organized crime dominates the institutional landscape in which entrepreneurs operate. We examine the strategic responses of these entrepreneurs, and find that they vary in the extent to which they resist semi-formal illegitimate institutions; some entrepreneurs engage in defiance, others avoid the illegitimate pressures, while others simply acquiesce. Upon further investigation, we find that the differences in entrepreneurs' network strength and network proximity, combined with their individual perception of threat and resource mobility, help to predict the different strategic responses.     

Entrepreneurial exit as a critical component of the entrepreneurial process: Theoretical development

By demonstrating the importance of entrepreneurial exit to the entrepreneur, the firm, the industry, and the economy I contend that our understanding of the entrepreneurial process is incomplete without the inclusion of entrepreneurial exit. I define entrepreneurial exit and demonstrate how this conceptualization provides concepts that are unique from those addressed by researchers in other domains; thus outlining a space for it within the literature. In each phase of the entrepreneurial process I explore the development of an exit strategy, reasons for exit and options for exit.     

Religion,social class,and entrepreneurial choice

While considerable concern has emerged about the links between religion and economic growth, little is actually known about how religion and social class impact the decision making of individuals. Using institutional theory and social dominance theory, this paper examines the influence of religion and social class on individuals' occupational choices. Based on a large-scale database from India, this paper finds that while some religions are relatively conducive to self-employment, some others have a negative impact on self-employment choices. Furthermore, individuals belonging to social classes that are lower in the social hierarchy are less likely to be self-employed. The role of both religion and social class in influencing the likelihood of choosing self-employment suggests an important link between religion, social class, and occupational decision-making.     

发展经济学视角下脱贫攻坚战胜利的理论分析

摆脱贫困一直是困扰全球发展和治理的突出难题。我国脱贫攻坚战的全面胜利充分彰显了习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的真理伟力。从发展经济学的视角来看,脱贫攻坚的提出符合经济发展阶段理论的要求,脱贫攻坚的过程是区域协调发展理论的外在表现,脱贫攻坚的全面胜利是循环累积因果关系的必然结果。虽然取得全面胜利,防止将来大规模返贫任务依然严峻。     

You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to be entrepreneurial: The unique role of imaginativeness in new venture ideation

Bestsellers like The Lean Startup and Business Model Generation have suggested that ideation—the generation and selection of ideas—is important to new venture creation; yet, little empirical research on the topic has been conducted. Using a creative problem-solving approach, we developed and tested a new scale that found imaginativeness predicts new venture ideation over and above the effects of the usual suspects of attitude, knowledge, and evaluation. Imaginativeness is an ideational skill that combines task-relevant knowledge in three distinct domains—creative, social, and practical—with the latent ability of imagination. In this article, we explain why a new scale was needed, why imaginativeness appears to be especially useful to individuals who lack entrepreneurial experience, and how imaginativeness enables just about anyone to generate and select new venture ideas with the proficiency of a habitual entrepreneur.     

The counter-conventional mindsets of entrepreneurs

These days, it seems, nearly everyone aspires to be an entrepreneur. But many entrepreneurs think and act differently than the way in which most other businesspeople do and the way much of today’s business education encourages them to think and act. My in-depth examination of dozens of entrepreneurs I’ve come to know well over the past 2 decades tells me that their unconventional—or, dare I say, counter-conventional—mindsets and behaviors are marked by six common patterns: (1) ‘Yes, we can;’ (2) beg, borrow, or steal; (3) think narrow, not broad; (4) problem-first, not product-first logic; (5) ‘No’ is something waiting to be turned into ‘Yes’; and (6) ask for the cash and ride the float. Thankfully, we now know that entrepreneurs are made, not born. These six patterns of entrepreneurial thought and action are eminently learnable. If you want to someday be an entrepreneur, or if you want the people in your company to become more entrepreneurial, then developing—or encouraging and incentivizing your people to develop—such a mindset might constitute a suitable first step toward preparing you to follow a more entrepreneurial path or to foster a more entrepreneurial culture in your company.     

Entrepreneurs in the making: Six decisions for fostering entrepreneurship through maker spaces

Maker spaces—shared production facilities offering access to basic and advanced manufacturing technologies—have quickly become the latest must-have for universities, large corporations, and communities looking to foster entrepreneurship and innovation. While the entrepreneurial and educational prospects of maker spaces are certainly intriguing, questions remain concerning their design and effectiveness. Drawing primarily on case evidence and conversations with five maker spaces located across the U.S., we identify and present six key decisions for maker space leaders looking to foster entrepreneurship in their organizations. We conclude with a decision framework for maker space leaders and a series of questions for entrepreneurs as both groups work to pursue entrepreneurship through and in maker spaces.     

Human resource flexibility and strong ties in entrepreneurial teams

Human resource flexibility is important in entrepreneurial ventures that need to respond to the changing challenges of growing the new business. This research investigates the impact of previously well-known people (strong ties) as entrepreneurial team members on the human resource flexibility of new ventures. Data collected from German founding entrepreneurs in technology-oriented, incubator-based firms shows that choosing a well known individual to join the entrepreneurial team increases the founder's ability to modify the team member's work role, but complicates asking the team member to leave the team if required. Hence, strong ties both increase and reduce human resource flexibility. However, the effect of strong ties on role modifiability is statistically significant only with novice entrepreneurs. These research findings counsel founders to discuss role modification and exit during partnership and entrepreneurial team membership negotiations.     

Creating mutual value: Lessons learned from ventures serving base of the pyramid producers

The base of the pyramid (BoP) literature is grounded in the proposition of mutual value creation, an important but not yet well-tested relationship between business development and poverty alleviation. This paper begins to address this gap by assessing how business ventures serving BoP producers address local constraints and create mutual value. Using a case study methodology, sixty-four ventures are analyzed to identify the constraints faced by BoP producers. These are classified into productivity and transactional constraints. While the former set of constraints inhibits local value creation, the latter severely diminish the value capture potential of BoP producers. An in-depth analysis of eleven agricultural ventures provides insight into the strategies that ventures use to address constraints and enhance value creation and capture by BoP producers. The findings also indicate that alleviating constraints creates value not only for local producers, but also for the ventures themselves.