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This study focuses on three different milestones in the business gestation process, i.e. becoming an aspiring entrepreneur, a nascent entrepreneur, and a founder of a fledgling new business. Moreover, this study uses a combination of both individual and regional (or environmental) factors in predicting individuals’ success or failure to reach each of these three milestones. Hypotheses are developed to test the effect that human and environmental resources have on the odds of reaching the different milestones in the business start-up process. The study is based on interviews of a representative sample of 9533 Norwegians aged 18 years or older. From this group, 197 respondents qualified as nascent entrepreneurs. These were subsequently interviewed in follow-up interviews conducted in 1996, 1997 and 1999. In addition, regional data at the municipality level is included to measure the available pool of environmental resources. The results indicate that entrepreneurial experience is the single most important f...

The present research investigated employment status choice intentions, defined as the decision to enter an occupation as a waged or salaried individual as opposed to a self-employed one. Hypotheses based on tracking models and the theory of planned behaviour were tested on a sample of 512 Russian students from three different universities in St. Petersburg. The results showed that the theory of planned behaviour, not tracking models or demographics, determined employment status choice intentions.

The present research studied the strategy for new ventures using data from Norwegian and Swedish entrepreneurs. Strategy archetypes were developed based upon the firms’ choice of strategic means and scope. The study further investigated whether the choice of strategy was dependent on the stage of development of a new venture, and the extent to which strategy was related to profitability and growth in different stages of a new venture’s development. The findings generally support the hypotheses, suggesting that new firm strategic archetypes can be identified and that firms in different stages of development follow different strategies. Moreover, strategy was found to be particularly important for growth in the early implementation stage, and for profit in the stabilization stage of a new firm's development.