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Research and policy on sustainable development (SD) and entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE), the most prevalent policy to enhance entrepreneurship, has increased dramatically in the last 20 years; in particular. Yet, as this paper shows, their relationship is unknown to date. We aim to answer if and how entrepreneurial ecosystems foster sustainable development. To this purpose, we develop a framework linking EE and SD integrating existing models and suggestions for further research and policymaking. Theoretically, we draw on three different disciplines and four distinct theories to propose how and why EE impact SD. Methodologically, we suggest system dynamics as the most appropriate method for theoretical modeling and empirical analysis. Policywise, we suggest how and why policy needs a new approach to leverage EE to enhance SD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship is one of the business forces with the greatest power to transform today's society, due to its ability to discover and take advantage of new opportunities to satisfy customer new and changing needs and expectations. Customer relationship management (CRM) has proved to be both a highly influential business management strategy and a powerful business management technology solution, with a particularly relevant impact in the area of entrepreneurship. CRM has helped drive growth and future expectations and has had excellent results in terms of return on investment wherever it has been implemented. An exhaustive review of previously published findings in a specific subject area can uncover new lines of research. This paper uses semi-systematic review to the study of the reality of the link between CRM and entrepreneurial marketing in business. This approach is used to comprehensively describe the state of the art of the impact that CRM can have in the modern business environment, through the empowerment of entrepreneurial marketing. In a structured manner, the present paper reviews the 86 most relevant studies of how CRM affects entrepreneurial marketing policy development through its alignment with relationship marketing and customer-centric business models. The growing use of CRM in companies is one of the pillars of technological and social change in entrepreneurship, being a clear example of how big data can benefit society. The study focuses on the period from 2015 to 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents the increase in the number of global billionaires from mainland China between 2004 and 2018. One of the key findings is that under conditions of an open economy, grassroots billionaire entrepreneurs (e.g., Jack Ma) could mitigate political economy as well as financial frictions via capital injections from foreign venture capitalists. By building a unique database, I report that (i) the politically unconnected billionaire entrepreneurs financed by foreign venture capitalists are more likely to go public their companies outside mainland China (mainly in Hong Kong and the USA), use offshore financing vehicles, and enter the innovation sector and (ii) the politically connected global billionaire entrepreneurs, however, are closely associated with a record of state-owned enterprise (SOE) restructuring. Plain English Summary: The increase in the number of billionaire entrepreneurs (e.g., Jack Ma) from mainland China between 2004 and 2018 is a new phenomenon, which necessitates a reassessment of the crony capitalism arguments, the types of entrepreneurs, and the sources of innovation. This paper has important implications for future research on entrepreneurship in a global economy and the design of relevant policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurial firms are central actors in the process of the generation and diffusion of digital innovation which, on the other hand, provides a wide range of opportunities for entrepreneurs. Although existing research has produced several contributions on both topics, the knowledge generated in the field appears fragmented and the findings are sometimes ambiguous. The reason for this fragmentation can be traced back to the lack of reference frameworks that clarify the most used concepts, thus providing a shared language. This study aims to consolidate the state-of-art of scholarly research published over the past 20 years at the intersection of the innovation and entrepreneurship fields of study. To this aim, we carried out a systematic literature review by analyzing a set of 185 papers in order to find what are the relevant topics in the investigated research domain. This activity was performed using MySLR software. Besides a descriptive picture of the scientific activity, a map of the literature published to date that simultaneously addresses the two themes, is provided. In particular, we characterized the six relevant topics in the investigated research domain: start-ups' collaboration networks, business-model innovation, digital platforms, digital ventures, the digital entrepreneur's profile, and digital-innovation ecosystems. Based on these results the article proposes three main research directions for future research: multi-level analysis of Digital Innovation in Entrepreneurial Ventures; interdisciplinary approaches; development of specific theories for igital Innovation. Overall, the value of research is to provide a framework for analyzing the phenomenon of innovation in and with entrepreneurial firms that can be used as a reference model for both entrepreneurship and innovation management researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deploying systems-theoretical conceptuality, this paper improves understanding of the organisational consequences of the intensified societal engagement of a research university. Aligning its work with Luhmannian organisational analysis, it addresses the dynamic interplay between two modes of administrative decision-making communication, namely, the traditional professional administration and the New-Public-Management-oriented (NPM) managerial techniques. Our research observes how the politico-economic conditions of the society translate into the university's decisions concerning an initiative to engage in start-up entrepreneurship. The article contributes to higher education literature by showing that the university's professional administration is a discrete organisational function internally differentiated into specialised administrative branches, each of which operates according to a sense-making regime associated with its primary societal system reference, such as education, science and the economy. The article also demonstrates the structurally conditioned differences in branch-specific temporalisations of the entrepreneurial initiative during decision-making. Inspired by the Luhmannian view on temporality, we demonstrate how administrative decisions synchronise the varied structural time horizons within the university's professional administration. Focus on temporality in decision-making thus allows us to see how the NPM-inspired managerial techniques are operationalised in administrative communication at universities. Consequently, the paper argues that university administration is a complex dynamic entity, which varyingly aligns itself to national policy scripts, and only selectively enacts features of a global trend known as NPM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper aims to investigate the impediments faced by innovation-driven enterprises in Thailand and to explore the current measures, policies, and mechanisms related to innovation-driven enterprises (IDEs)' development both domestically and internationally. The study encompasses a comprehensive approach, including an analysis of an innovation entrepreneur database comprising 320 investors and 883 IDEs. Moreover, semi-structure in-depth interviews were conducted with three investors, twenty-two IDEs' founders, eight executives, and experts from various sectors, including government, university incubators, and the private sector in Thailand. Through this multifaceted investigation, this paper sheds light on the key factors that hinder the success of IDEs in Thailand, which primarily revolve around the quality of entrepreneurs (Team), Product and Market Fit, and Support. These factors collectively impact the depth of knowledge, business incubation, acceleration programs, and the effectiveness of laws, measures, and policies in supporting innovation capability development within IDEs. In addition, this paper presents a framework for Thailand's IDEs hub, facilitating the connection between the university's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem with public and private stakeholders. This framework serves as a mechanism to address the identified hindrances and foster a conducive environment for IDEs development. To address the obstacles, this paper proposes three crucial strategies, namely, (1) talent management, (2) ease of doing scaleup, and (3) availability of funding. These strategies are envisioned to counteract the identified challenges and can be effectively implemented through an operating model and practical working procedures tailored to suit the specific context of Thailand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dominant 'sand in the wheels' view holds that entrepreneurship is strongly inhibited by corruption. Challenging this, the 'grease the wheels' view maintains that corruption might increase entrepreneurship in highly regulated economies. We extend the basic predictions of these theories by examining entrepreneurs' start-up decisions, as well as their location choices, in a seemingly low-corruption environment: Swedish municipalities. Combining a validated index of corruption perceptions in local government with population data on new entrepreneurs, nested logit models reveal that even in a low-corruption setting such as Sweden, perceptions of corruption can deter latent entrepreneurs. We also find that a minority of entrepreneurs relocate from their home municipalities to establish their start-ups elsewhere. Surprisingly and contrary to expectations, these relocating entrepreneurs often relocate from relatively low-corruption municipalities to others that are more corrupt. Implications for future research and public policy are discussed. Plain English Summary: The effect of corruption in local government is often overlooked in entrepreneurship research. This paper finds that even in one of the world's least corrupt countries—Sweden—local government corruption discourages the will to start new firms. Most scholars agree that corruption discourages people from starting new firms. However, a few studies have lately suggested that corruption—under specific circumstances—may actually increase entrepreneurship when bureaucracies are highly regulated and inflexible. This paper delves deeper into the salience of these contradictory views by studying municipalities in Sweden. This low-corruption country is highly regulated with an efficient but, at times, rigid bureaucracy. Using a combination of survey and business register data, we find that even in this low-corruption environment, corruption decreases the rate of entrepreneurship. Surprisingly, though, a minority of entrepreneurs relocate from their relatively low-corruption home municipalities to establish their start-ups in others that are more corrupt. An important implication of our findings is that even in the world's least corrupt countries, active anti-corruption strategies need to be upheld, and this is particularly pertinent at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, sustainable entrepreneurship, urban entrepreneurship, and sustainable cities have separately gained lots of attention from scholars in different fields. In this article, we emphasize the importance of studying the interaction of entrepreneurship and sustainability in the context of cities. We discuss three promising areas along this line of research: sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems, entrepreneurial smart cities, and entrepreneurial solutions to sustainable urban growth. We then summarize the papers included in this special issue. These papers make important contributions to the transdisciplinary research at the intersection of entrepreneurship, sustainability, and urban development. Plain English Summary: In this article, we emphasize the importance of studying the interaction of entrepreneurship and sustainability in the context of cities. We discuss three promising areas along this line of research: sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems, entrepreneurial smart cities, and entrepreneurial solutions to sustainable urban growth. More specifically, sustainable entrepreneurial ecosystems focus on actors and factors to facilitate the creation and growth of sustainable or green ventures in communities. Entrepreneurial smart cities are cities that grow their digital capability in infrastructure and other public services through corporate and startup entrepreneurship. And entrepreneurial solutions to sustainable urban growth highlight the transformative roles of entrepreneurs in sustainability-oriented urban development in both developing and developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two important lines of research come together in this paper: entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Both stand out for their ability to contribute to sustainable development and generate competitive and social advantages. This study combined both approaches under the concept of CSR entrepreneurship (CSRE). A scale was developed to assess corporate socially responsible entrepreneurs' traits in corporate contexts (i.e., CSRE-s). This quantitative measurement instrument was initially composed of 84 items, which were subjected to various validity and reliability tests. Exploratory factor and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to identify the most significant determinant variables of individuals engaging in CSRE. The validated CSRE-s indicates that the corporate socially responsible entrepreneurship construct involves 6 entrepreneurship factors and 3 CSR dimensions—environmental, social, and economic—with 2 factors each (i.e., 6 factors), assessed by a total of 76 items. This research's main contribution is the identification of CSRE features in entrepreneurs that together constitute an original, unique, and innovative framework for a sustainable development approach to entrepreneurship. The proposed conceptual model can be used to ensure the CSR values validated for the CSRE-s are incorporated into entrepreneurial training programs (i.e., universities), the public sector's policies promoting entrepreneurship, and strategic business plans for expansion via entrepreneurship. The CSRE-s can be used to strengthen these three areas simultaneously, which should provide social advantages to all stakeholders via the sustainable management of entrepreneurial projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we question the implicit assumption that more entrepreneurship drives more innovation and growth, asserting that specific typologies of entrepreneurship are responsible for these phenomena. A growing number of studies has analyzed this relationship while focusing on the overall level of entrepreneurship. This paper exploits recent advancements in measuring the sophistication and connectedness of economic systems, brought by the notions of economic complexity and relatedness, to study the nexus of industrial structure and high-potential forms of entrepreneurship. The present study uses a panel dataset for Italy for the period 2015–2019. The results show a differentiated pattern among the high-potential startups considered, with relatedness and complexity having a positive effect for innovative startups, a negative one for high-growth startups, and no effect for pioneers. These results inform potential entrepreneurs of the importance of analyzing how external conditions can have distinctive effects on the process of opportunity identification among different typologies of high-potential startups. Plain English Summary: In this paper, we question the implicit assumption that more entrepreneurship drives more innovation and growth, arguing that only specific typologies of entrepreneurship are responsible for these phenomena. In recent years, researchers have highlighted the importance of the factors external to the startups to explain the entrepreneurial dynamics. In particular, specialized and sophisticated economic systems have often been associated with a high level of entrepreneurship. Accordingly, we investigated the differentiated effects that industrial systems have on the high-potential typology of startups, namely, innovative startups, high-growth startups, and pioneers. Upon analyzing the case of Italy across a 5-year period (2015–2019), we found that certain compositions of industrial structure may either favor or hinder the typologies of the aforementioned startups. These results inform potential entrepreneurs of the importance to analyze how external conditions can distinctively affect the process of opportunity identification among different forms of high-potential startups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main concerns of entrepreneurs is obtaining finance to launch their projects. In this sense, this study aims to analyse the relationship between entrepreneurship and different sources of finance, considering the type of entrepreneurship, gender, and the country. To achieve this purpose, entrepreneurship has been distinguished by gender and type of entrepreneurship (necessity and opportunity entrepreneurship), using data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) as a reference. Sources of finance were divided into conventional (bank) financing and alternative financing (microfinance and cooperatives). Countries were divided into developed and developing countries according to the classification proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We worked with 66 countries (17 developed and 49 developing) for which information was obtained for 2007–2019. Using fixed effect panel data models, the results show how microfinance and cooperativism have a positive impact, especially on female entrepreneurship by opportunity in developing countries. In the case of cooperativism, there is a direct and clear relationship between female entrepreneurship, regardless of whether driven by necessity or opportunity, and region. Conventional financing is generally unfavourable to female entrepreneurship but favours male opportunity entrepreneurship. This paper makes recommendations to authorities to create an appropriate framework to encourage these sources of finance for entrepreneurship, given their particular positive impact and benefit in developing regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovative women entrepreneurs undoubtedly represent an under investigated research area within entrepreneurship research to date. This paper fits into this scantly explored stream of research, enriching the academic discussion by analyzing how innovative women entrepreneurs deal with issues typically associated to "traditional" women entrepreneurs. In doing so, a literature review and an analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews, conducted in the time period 2022–2023 on a sample of 10 Italian innovative women entrepreneurs who were selected using purposive sampling, have been carried out in order to provide an overview of the features that characterize such entrepreneurs. Results show some interesting aspects in which innovative women entrepreneurs differ, at least in part, from women entrepreneurs involved in traditional sectors. Firstly, all the interviewed women have been pulled, rather than pushed, into entrepreneurship; secondly, the interviewed entrepreneurs do not perceive the high workload as something that can interfere with family responsibilities, but as a means of satisfaction and personal fulfilment. Finally, the majority of the interviewed women entrepreneurs were able to raise money by means of public funds, business angels, or specific competitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the impact of entrepreneurship on economic growth. To do so, we analyze whether entrepreneurial activity (based on data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, GEM) affect the economic activity in a given country (as measured by the Gross Domestic Product, GDP). A key methodological contribution of this paper is that the relationship between entrepreneurial activity and GDP growth considers that a relevant part of economic growth is explained by exogenous variables. For this reason, the empirical analysis is based on data on South American Countries, where external factors are more relevant to drive GDP. We found that for the countries analyzed there is a positive and significant relationship between intrapreneurial activity and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remarkable ascent of entrepreneurship witnessed as a scientific field over the last 4 decades has been made possible by entrepreneurship's ability to absorb theories, paradigms, and methods from other fields such as economics, psychology, sociology, geography, and even biology. The respectability of entrepreneurship as an academic discipline is now evidenced by many other fields starting to borrow from the entrepreneurship view. In the present paper, seven examples are given from this "pay back" development. These examples were first presented during a seminar at the Erasmus Entrepreneurship Event called what has the entrepreneurship view to offer to other academic fields? This article elaborates on the core ideas of these presentations and focuses on the overarching question of how entrepreneurship research impacts the development of other academic fields. We found that entrepreneurship research questions the core assumptions of other academic fields and provides new insights into the antecedents, mechanisms, and consequences of their respective core phenomena. Moreover, entrepreneurship research helps to legitimize other academic fields both practically and academically. Plain English Summary: Entrepreneurship research questions the core assumptions of other academic fields and legitimizes them both practically and academically. Since the 1980s, entrepreneurship research has seen tremendous growth and development, establishing itself as an academic field. Entrepreneurship is also taught extensively in leading business schools around the world. Indeed, few business schools do not address entrepreneurship in their curriculum. This represents a sea change: although entrepreneurs and new ventures had a remarkable impact on society, academia barely noticed it in the 1980s. Simply put: economics and business students rarely, if ever, encountered any mention of entrepreneurship during their studies. While entrepreneurship research has now developed its own methodological toolbox, it has extensively borrowed perspectives, theories, and methods from other fields. In the 2020s, we now find that entrepreneurship scholars are sharing its toolbox with other academic fields, questioning the core assumptions of other academic fields and providing new insights into the antecedents, mechanisms, and consequences of their respective core phenomena. Moreover, entrepreneurship research helps to legitimize other academic fields both practically and academically. Hence, entrepreneurship research now plays not just an important role in entrepreneurship education, practice, and policy but also throughout many other research fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops an anthropological perspective on contextualizing entrepreneurship. We argue that interconnectedness is the quintessence of such a perspective and takes the form of (1) sociocultural ties between people; (2) interrelationships between micro, meso, and macro levels; and (3) connections between the past and the present. We illustrate this perspective through our research among ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia, identifying three kinds of sociocultural ties among the ethnic Chinese (kinship, spiritual, and patron-client ties) and positioning these ties in the historical and contemporary experiences of Chinese migration, settlement, and business venturing. In doing so, we show that an anthropological perspective broadens the empirical scope (including developing countries, minority groups, and "everyday" entrepreneurship), the methodological scope (employing ethnographic methods), and the conceptual scope (considering sociocultural ties at the interpersonal level) of entrepreneurship research. The contribution lies in operationalizing and theorizing context: we operationalize context through interconnectedness – comprising our three forms as well as ethnographic methodology to examine these – and theorize interconnectedness by elaborating how entrepreneurs "do" context through enacting the sociocultural ties that "embody" this context, while considering the micro-meso-macro and past-present connections that have engendered these ties. Our anthropological perspective presents a fine-grained and holistic analytical framework for contextualizing entrepreneurship. Plain English Summary: Anthropology can broaden current understandings of how context is perceived in entrepreneurship research. As the study of how people live and experience the world around them, anthropology explores social relationships and their cultural meanings – sociocultural ties – to provide insights into the everyday of the people and communities studied. Such sociocultural ties can also illuminate how entrepreneurs enact context, a missing link in entrepreneurship research. Based on research among ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs in Cambodia and Indonesia, three kinds of sociocultural ties are presented that play a key role in their entrepreneurship: kinship ties (shared family and ethnic background), patronage ties (interdependence of politicians and entrepreneurs), and spiritual ties (membership of religious communities). It is through these ties that context is enacted at the micro level and entwines with the entrepreneurial process. To debunk the idea that context equals external setting, we invite entrepreneurship researchers to include sociocultural ties to reveal how entrepreneurs enact context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how sectoral linkages amplify or diminish misallocation at the intensive and extensive margins. Our analysis is based on a multisector general equilibrium model with input–output linkages, heterogeneous entrepreneurial abilities, and endogenous occupational choice. Distortions affect the intensive use of production inputs and they also impact the agents' occupational decisions, misallocating the mass and type of entrepreneurs in different sectors of production. When the most distorted sectors are upstream (downstream), input–output linkages amplify (diminish) the loss from entreprenurial misallocation. We calibrate the model to the US and quantify the output losses from sectoral corporate taxes, decomposing the role of networks and the extensive margin decisions. We find that sectoral linkages quadruple the loss from the misallocation of entrepreneurs. We study an entry subsidy program, showing that it should target those sectors whose marginal entrepreneurs suffer larger profit losses, even if they are not necessarily the most distorted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the theoretical landscape of global entrepreneurship through a bibliometric analysis. The documents in peer-reviewed papers and conference proceedings are included for the study from the Scopus database based on selected keywords on global and international entrepreneurship. The Biblioshiny package under R programming and VOS viewer is used for analysis. A total of 2531 documents were taken for an in-depth investigation. The findings of the study are; many authors contribute to global entrepreneurship, and they focuses on various areas in global entrepreneurship field, collaborative patterns, trend topics, emerging themes, and future research topics in this theme. The study is purely based on the Scopus database. Hence, other databases are not taken into account. The Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews methodology were used in this study to understand the trends. The reliability may be affected by the intrinsic flaws in the bibliometric analysis. Primary data not used for the study are considered as limitations. The findings offer insights to scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and entrepreneurs for framing policies, programs, schemes, and activities to develop global entrepreneurship for a promising future for the entrepreneurs and the nation's prosperity. The study's originality lies in the structured literature review. The methodology provides a framework for the state of global entrepreneurship in the past and present and directions for the future. Global entrepreneurship helps to solve problems and to build sustainable global entrepreneurial practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of machine learning (ML) to operational data is becoming increasingly important with the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI). We propose a model where incumbents have an initial advantage in ML technology and access to (historical) operational data. We show that the increased application of ML for operational data raises entrepreneurial barriers that make the creative destruction process less destructive (less business stealing) if entrepreneurs have only limited access to the incumbent's data. However, this situation induces entrepreneurs to take on more risk and to be more creative. Policies making data generally available may therefore be suboptimal. A complementary policy is one that supports entrepreneurs' access to ML, such as open source initiatives, since doing so would stimulate creative entrepreneurship. Plain English Summary: Why generative AI and big data may make the creative destruction process not only more creative but also less destructive. We show that entrepreneurs should consider that challenging incumbents in the era of ML and big data will be more difficult since incumbents' use of ML for proprietary data makes them more formidable competitors. This fact implies that entrepreneurs need to become riskier and more creative in the future to find a competitive edge. They may therefore seek support from venture capital to become more novel in their ventures. Data protection and privacy issues became a flashpoint in the media due in part to the high-profile exposure of Facebook users' data to Cambridge Analytica in 2016 and 2017. The rapidly expanding adoption of generative AI is seen as a risk of locking in the market dominance of large incumbent technology firms. Partially in response to these events, government regulators have instituted tighter rules on data protection. The results derived in this paper suggest that a complementary policy might be to support entrepreneurs' access to and knowledge of ML technology since doing so would stimulate creative entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface cues such as displays of passion and physical attractiveness can affect crowdfunding outcomes. Yet the efficacy of these cues may be contingent on other attributes of the entrepreneur, such as their gender. We integrate insights from the elaboration likelihood model of persuasion with those of expectancy violation theory to develop and test a theoretical framework in which the benefit of these cues is contingent on the gender of the entrepreneur and expectancies associated with it. Furthermore, we introduce a novel measurement technique to assess individuals' implicit gender-based biases related to passion and attractiveness. Plain English Summary: Among biased investors, crowdfunding pitches work best for passionate male and attractive female entrepreneurs. Crowdfunding is a way for entrepreneurs to raise funds from a large, anonymous pool of amateur investors. To raise funds on these platforms, entrepreneurs create pitch videos to present to potential investors. When crowdfunding first emerged, there was widespread hope that it would open up new sources of funding to groups of entrepreneurs who are often shut out from traditional sources of funding, such as venture capital. But has that really happened? Or do biases that are common among professional investors also work to the disadvantage of these entrepreneurs in crowdfunding? In this paper, we answer these questions by studying the pitches of both male and female entrepreneurs and their impact on funding success. Our findings offer both a cause for optimism and for concern. On the positive side, we do find that crowdfunding can be a viable source of funding for female entrepreneurs. However, this benefit primarily goes to more attractive females. Furthermore, although being passionate in a pitch is generally a good thing, we find this benefit primarily goes to men instead of women. Without being too pessimistic, we find that these results only hold among those investors who hold certain gender-based biases pertaining to passion and attractiveness. Overall, the principal implication of this study is that biases that limit accessibility to traditional sources of funding also operate within crowdfunding. However, traditionally underfunded groups of entrepreneurs may be able to use these to their advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is extensive as a whole and relies on a detailed bibliometric analysis to gain a better understanding of the transformation landscape in artificial intelligence (AI)-related entrepreneurship. A thorough analysis of data, taken from the Scopus database, results in clarified trends identifying AI as an increasingly important component of entrepreneurship from various perspectives. We extracted the bibliographic record from Scopus for 197 documents on AI in entrepreneurship research. By conducting bibliometric analysis, we tried to understand the top-influential and productive papers, authors, sources, and the significant contributing countries and institutions that use AI in entrepreneurship research. This study also intends to identify the most influential and productive writers and development of the discipline of AI in entrepreneurship. The insights identified at the base of this analysis are not only beneficial for exploring the rapidly developing field of AI entrepreneurship. They are also beneficial with respect to several practical implications for different stakeholders and fields. While the above distinguishes provide crucial findings that should be considered for further research within the rapidly changing sector of AI entrepreneurship, they have important implications for various concerned parties, of which researchers, practitioners, and policy makers not the least. The found themes and sub-themes, including business process automation, technology-based innovation, AI-reliant business models, as well as AI role in facilitating startup happenings, represent directions in which the academical research along with practical application is set to get into more detail in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effects of trade credit on export survival by using cross-country panel data with 41 countries from 1997 to 2014. The export survival rate is the ratio of the number of survivors to the entrants. Trade credit is defined as the net value received of the liabilities and claims arising from receiving or providing supplier credit and advance payment for transactions in goods and services. The empirical results indicate that net trade credit received by the exporters is positively associated with the possibility of export survival and that this effect is notably stronger for second- and third-year firms than for first-year entrants, for crisis and post-crisis periods compared with normal periods, and for cases where endogeneity problem is taken into account. These findings suggest that in order to enhance the sustainability of export flow, governments should employ policies to facilitate greater advance payment, especially during periods of financial distress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research established that religion shapes country-level entrepreneurial activity as well as individual-level entrepreneurial decisions. The organizational level has received less research attention. It is particularly unclear how the combination of entrepreneurship and religion is forged in established religious organizations. Through a historical case study of the Church of England's efforts toward developing an entrepreneurial orientation (EO), my paper sheds light on that issue. The findings indicate that, in religious settings, an entrepreneurial orientation materializes through a lengthy, contested process. Two mutually reinforcing mechanisms – polysemy dynamics and idea sedimentation – play an important role in this process. I theorize that these mechanisms, despite delaying EO development, address resistance and thereby drive progress toward a comprehensive entrepreneurial orientation. Plain English Summary: How do traditional religious organizations end up embracing entrepreneurial ideas? This historical case study of the Church of England answers that question. Religious organizations, especially those facing decline, are increasingly feeling the pressure to launch entrepreneurial initiatives. When such initiatives are seen as violations of religious beliefs, they tend to be resisted. How religious organizations overcome such resistance, and how they try to combine entrepreneurial and religious principles, is unclear. My study shows that the Church of England became more entrepreneurial after it (1) slowly arrived at a common understanding of what entrepreneurship meant to them and (2) continued building on entrepreneurial ideas that were previously accepted or rejected. The main implication of this study is that, while religious organizations may be slow to combine entrepreneurial and religious values, the process is difficult to stop once it has been set in motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secularization processes alongside supposed tensions between science and religion may partly explain the slow development of literature on the relationship between religion and entrepreneurship. Nevertheless, the overwhelming number of submissions we received for the present special issue of Small Business Economics suggests a profound interest in this topic by researchers from all around the globe. In many of these submissions, the researcher's own personal values or beliefs explicitly or implicitly motivated the research question, shaped the research design, and steered the interpretation of outcomes – regrettably, although this engagement often being at the expense of the study's analytical rigor. We explain how the Weberian distinction between value-neutrality and value-relevance can help to increase the rigor of studies on the relationship between religion and entrepreneurship. Moreover, we propose a mechanism-based approach to explain and test the multiple interrelationships between religion and entrepreneurship because such mechanisms are often assumed rather than empirically tested. By drawing on and extending Saroglou's religious dimensions model, we structure potential mechanisms between religion and entrepreneurship as well as between entrepreneurship and religion. Plain English Summary: How can religion be so central to the everyday lives of most people around the globe yet receive so little attention in entrepreneurship research? The overwhelming response to the call for papers in this special issue of Small Business Economics on the relationship between religion and entrepreneurship suggests that it is not a lack of interest in the topic that explains the slow development of the literature. Rather, it seems that the researcher's engagement with the topic often has a bearing on the analytical rigor of the study. We explain how the Weberian distinction between value-neutrality and value-relevance can help to increase the rigor of studies on the relationship between religion and entrepreneurship. Value-neutrality emphasizes the importance of maintaining impartiality in social research, including the study of beliefs and religion, while value-relevance means that values, including religious values, may be present in the choice of research topics. Moreover, we argue for a closer examination and analysis of mechanisms to advance the study of interrelationships between religion and entrepreneurship because such mechanisms are often assumed rather than empirically tested. We also contribute to current and future research by offering a framework explaining the different ways in which religion and entrepreneurship are interrelated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between entry-regulation, corruption, and entrepreneurship is controversial in the literature. Using a broad cross-country dataset to deepen the investigation, this paper distinguishes opportunity and necessity-motivated entrepreneurship in different development contexts. Corruption might grease the wheels of ineffective administrative machinery in developing countries with heavy entry-regulation. Yet, the marginal effect of corruption will generally be non-significant in other developing countries and in developed countries. Moreover, our results suggest that corruption deters opportunity-motivated entrepreneurship—the type of entrepreneurship that may contribute the most to productivity, economic growth, and development—in developed countries. Plain English Summary: Corruption and regulation can have ambiguous relationships with entrepreneurship unless you take a careful look at it. We examine the impact of corruption and entry-regulation on opportunity and necessity-motivated entrepreneurship within different economic development contexts. Corruption and entry-regulation correlate negatively with entrepreneurship but might have a tempering effect on each other. Thus, we consider whether corruption reduces the negative impact of entry-regulation on entrepreneurship while remaining globally negative (i.e., the "weak view") or if it completely counterbalance the negative effect (the "strong view"). Exploiting a cross-country dataset on 105 countries over the 2003–2016 period, we find that, while corruption might somewhat temper the negative impact of a heavy administrative machinery in developing countries, this tempering effect of corruption will generally be non-significant. Furthermore, our findings suggest that corruption deters opportunity-motivated entrepreneurship—the type of entrepreneurship that may contribute the most to productivity, economic growth and development. Corruption and regulation would then be particularly harmful for economic development. The policy-maker tackling these issues would do well to consider direct effects and possible interrelationships according to context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to provide a holistic examination of local food entrepreneurs (LFE) across the local food system (LFS) of a specific U.S. geographic region, including the drivers and barriers to their success. Over the past few decades, there has been a surge in entrepreneurs becoming involved in the LFS which includes the production (farming and manufacturing), distribution, and retail of local ag-related products and services. The LFS is complex and entrepreneurs operating within the system are often met with steep barriers of entry and have trouble maintaining long-term success. Through recorded semi-structured interviews of LFEs (producers, processors, and purveyors) in the Missouri Ozark region, data was gathered and coded according to grounded theory methodologies. From the data collection, 24 emergent themes were identified using thematic clustering. These were further consolidated into eight categorical themes (strategy, skills development, financially sustainable model, differentiation drivers, operational drivers, external drivers, internal constraints, and external constraints) and three over-riding themes (approach, drivers, and barriers). This cross-sectional approach in examining entrepreneurs across the value chain in an LFS provides new insights into the unique entrepreneurial mindset of LFEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contextualisation research in entrepreneurship is on the rise. Scholars generally view it positively, as contextualisation allows for a better understanding of the bigger picture, whilst also concerns are voiced. However, contextualisation may lead to an overly fragmented field and its possible disintegration. This calls for 'the emergence of sensible approaches to contextualisation that provide guidance in balancing its benefits and costs' as reported by Welter et al. (Small Business Economics 52(2):319–330, 2019) which is the challenge we address in this Special Issue. More specifically, we argue that an investigation of the construction and enactment of contexts provides a path to better understand the identified tension. The aim of this Special Issue ties in with increasing calls in the entrepreneurship literature for going beyond agent centric views towards accounts that theorise the interconnections between agency and structure. Taken together, the articles in this special issue contribute to (1) a stronger grounding for entrepreneurship theories and concepts; (2) a more balanced conceptualisation of both agency and context; (3) a shift from the 'standard model' of entrepreneurship; and (4) context sensitive entrepreneurship methodologies and approaches. We end with identifying further research avenues. Plain English Summary: Contextualisation research in entrepreneurship is on the rise. With contextualisation we aim to understand the external environmental factors impacting entrepreneurial activities. Many scholars believe it provides a better understanding of the bigger picture, whereby others highlight that contextualisation may lead to an overly fragmented field and its possible disintegration. In this Special Issue, we argue that by investigating 'doing contexts', which are the making, unmaking, and remaking of sites for entrepreneurial action, we help to tackle this challenge. Taken together, the articles of this Special Issue contribute to (1) a stronger grounding for entrepreneurship theories and concepts; (2) a more balanced conceptualisation of both agency and context; (3) a shift from the 'standard model' of entrepreneurship; and (4) context sensitive entrepreneurship methodologies and approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 2010 was an important turning point for China's economy, and the digital economy has become its new feature. In the digital economy wave, digital transformation and innovation are two essential starting points for enterprise development. Few studies have examined the effect of companies' digital transformation on disruptive innovation, neglecting the role of entrepreneurship. This study aims to address this research gap by developing an analytical framework for digital transformation, entrepreneurship, and disruptive innovation. Based on China's A-listed firms from 2010 to 2021, we use Python to create indicators for digital transformation and examine its impact on disruptive innovation and the role of entrepreneurship using a double fixed-effects model. The results demonstrate that digital transformation significantly promotes disruptive innovation, and entrepreneurship positively moderates this relationship. Furthermore, heterogeneity analyses show that digital transformation's positive effects of disruptive innovation and entrepreneurship are more pronounced in non-SOEs, companies in growth and decline stages, and nonmanufacturing companies. However, in SOEs and manufacturing firms, entrepreneurship was unable to moderate this relationship. The conclusions reflect the exploration of the realization mechanism and micro-foundations of the current, in-depth digital transformations, and the findings provide reference guidelines for enabling enterprises to realize digital transformation and disruptive innovation and, relevant experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive and inclusive review of current research on sustainable entrepreneurship (SE). One of the aims of this study is to navigate the understanding of SE practices by investigating the prospects and trends in research on sustainable entrepreneurship. It seeks to present an efficient portrayal of the latest research on sustainable entrepreneurship, serving as a valuable reference for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. By applying the PRISMA approach, this study is based on a systematic literature review (SLR), and a substantial pool of 363 Scopus results and 291 WOS results was obtained using the keyword "sustainable entrepreneurship," yielding a total of 654 articles that may be deemed possibly relevant. After the methodological screening, 234 mainly chosen studies using databases, including Scopus and WOS. This SLR utilizes thorough descriptive, Network, and thematic analysis, research tendencies, and methodological approaches. The findings of this study discussed the possible research gaps and future trends, suggesting the significant need for a stable framework for SE concepts. Empirical and exploratory studies are linked with social, economic, and technological scope, specifically sustainability, and are related to artificial intelligence (AI) studies. It contributes to laying the groundwork for future investigations into the critical connection between entrepreneurship and sustainability. Furthermore, given the continuously changing landscape of sustainable business, certain conclusions may be outdated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This meta-analysis of 31 studies over 20 years advances our understanding of the gender gap in entrepreneurial bank finance. Findings from previous research on the relationship between entrepreneurs' gender and bank financing are mixed, which suggests the need to pay particular attention to entrepreneurs' social context. In this study, we develop a model of how social gender norms explain variation in women entrepreneurs' (vis-à-vis men entrepreneurs') access to bank finance. Specifically, we theorize how women's formal (their nations' political ideologies) and informal (women's empowerment) social standing within their societies influence gender discrimination in entrepreneurial bank financing. Consistent with most previous studies, our baseline results show that women entrepreneurs' business loan applications are rejected to a greater extent than men entrepreneurs' loan applications. Women entrepreneurs also pay higher interest rates on loans than men entrepreneurs. Further, in societies dominated by a conservative (rather than a liberal) political ideology, the positive relationship between women entrepreneurs and loan interest rates is more positive. Interestingly, gender discrimination in loan rejection and interest rates is magnified in societies with greater women's empowerment. Taking a social gender-norm perspective, our analysis establishes a gender gap in entrepreneurial bank finance, and we outline an agenda for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have explored the role of firm dynamics and the connection to job reallocation. However, limited attention has been devoted to the role of micro and small firms in this process, particularly about the quality of the jobs generated. Therefore, this article aims to measure the impact of micro and small firm dynamics on occupation diversification in Brazil, with specific emphasis on job quality. The study used data from 558 microregions within the Brazilian industrial sector between 2003 and 2015. Panel data were applied to three econometric models: Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS), Driscoll–Kraay (DK) and Instrumental Variable (IV) models for robustness analysis, including Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS), Limited Information Maximum Likelihood (LIML), and the Generalized Method of Moments with Continuously Updating Estimators (GMM-CUE). Our main finding reveals that the dynamics of micro and small firms positively impact occupation diversity in Brazil, leading to the creation of a wider range of job types. Furthermore, the frequency of change of firms from microenterprises to small businesses increases the occupation diversity in the Brazilian industrial sector. Our findings are significant in providing policy recommendations for developing countries to achieve a more diverse labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elon Musk, a notable entrepreneur, often influences Wall Street with his controversial social media presence. Drawing on Social Identity and Social Influence Theories, this study explores the "Musk Effect," specifically how Musk's acquisition of Twitter impacts other entrepreneurs' social media activities. Analyzing 4 million tweets from 36,828 entrepreneurs across seven English-speaking countries (US, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada, South Africa, and Ireland) over 56 weeks, the study captures the period from the rumors of Musk's Twitter purchase to its completion. Findings reveal that only about 2% of these entrepreneurs significantly altered their tweeting behavior, suggesting that the direct influence of Musk's actions on entrepreneurs' social media activity may be limited, despite his high-profile status. This research is among the first to investigate how Musk's Twitter takeover affects entrepreneurs' actual Twitter usage, offering insights into the Musk Effect beyond its Wall Street implications. By identifying specific entrepreneur characteristics most influenced by the Musk Effect, this study underscores the nuanced nature of social influence in the digital age. It reveals that while high-profile figures like Musk can generate widespread interest, their direct impact on the digital behavior of peers may be limited. Understanding this dynamic is essential for accurately assessing the influence of prominent entrepreneurs on industry trends and behaviors in a rapidly evolving digital marketplace. The findings suggest that applying Social Identity and Social Influence Theories in digital contexts requires a more nuanced approach, considering the unique characteristics of online environments and the multiple factors shaping social identities and behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entrepreneurship of women in rural areas can provide economic versatility for families and help protect the social structure. Women have different reasons and motivations for engaging in entrepreneurship activities in different societies. The present research aimed to find the reasons for and obstacles to the creation and development of business and entrepreneurship activities using the interview method. The research population who were interviewed was fourteen exemplary female entrepreneurs in Khorasan Razavi province, Iran, who were introduced to us by the Office of Women's Affairs and the Family of the Khorasan Razavi Governor. The results of the interview were encoded and analyzed with the MaxQda software. The results showed that the most important reasons and motivations of women for entrepreneurship activities included economic, social, humane, personal, cultural, and environmental. Economic reasons were the strongest ones. The most important obstacles for women in creating and expanding entrepreneurial activities included bureaucratic, economic, family-oriented, psychological, infrastructure, policy-making, sociocultural, and technical. The study gives new insight into what obstacles women entrepreneurs are faced to create small rural businesses in rural areas and how they are motivated to develop their businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional intelligence (EI) and leadership style are topics that have attracted a growing interest in the literature. In this study, we posit that entrepreneurs' EI is an antecedent of transformational leadership (TL) while examining the moderating role of gender and generational cohort. Data were collected from 2,084 international entrepreneurs and analysed using multivariate analysis and hierarchical linear regression. The results confirm EI as an antecedent of TL and show that others' emotion appraisal (OEA) and regulation of emotions (ROE) are the most contributing subdimensions of EI to TL. Moreover, the study also reveals significant gender and generational cohort differences for EI and TL. In one of the relevant findings, our research shows that only female Gen Z entrepreneurs have lower scores than their male counterparts. Although men's EI scores are similar across generations, women's scores are significantly higher in each older generation leaving ¡open questions for further research in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether labor force diversity also matters for entrepreneurship in the context of South Korea, with the aim of evaluating the applicability of previous findings from developed Western countries to the growing Asian nations. The results suggest a clear country variance in labor force diversity effects, revealing negative impacts of demographic diversity and insignificance of cultural diversity on entrepreneurship in South Korea, which is in contrast to prior observations in most Western countries. I propose that South Korea's strong societal hierarchy, historical emphasis on ethnic homogeneity, and existing ethnic polarization reduce the nation's openness towards diversity, resulting in unpromising labor force diversity effects on entrepreneurship in South Korea. This research contributes to the current literature by filling the research gap beyond the regional context of developed Western countries and by suggesting possible country variance in labor force diversity effects according to the nation's varying openness towards diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through innovation and technology, there is a global movement to hasten national progress and development. The importance of fostering start-ups has risen to the top of the global agenda, and emerging nations are starting to acknowledge their crucial function as growth and development engines. It is critical to recognize and prioritize the need of building new, pertinent businesses that will create, develop, and support goods and services that suit societal demands and are important for Romania's economic development. This research study examines Romania's start-ups and innovation infrastructure to understand the entrepreneurial environment. Also, this study emphasizes the major obstacles that start-ups and entrepreneurs encounter, as well as evaluating creative technical breakthroughs to build a successful economy based on knowledge. Similarly, while intending to analyze the changes that start-ups and entrepreneurs bring to an economic, political, and social landscape, this study identifies the waves of opportunities that come with start-ups which are created for a better knowledge-based economy. Developing an ecosystem of innovation to deliver solutions to our society's needs and expectations would foster a start-up culture that is inclusive, efficient, and helpful to the entire society. In this context, we developed hypotheses and a study model based on Sem-Pls methodology, which were validated using an online questionnaire. SmartPls4 software was used to process the data, and all research hypotheses were validated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research reveals a positive relationship between entrepreneurs' ADHD symptoms and entrepreneurial outcomes. Building on expectancy theory, we enlarges our current understanding that entrepreneurs with more ADHD symptoms will engage more in innovation and internationalization, which will lead to higher growth aspirations for their venture. More importantly, we expect this relationship between ADHD symptoms and growth aspirations to be more positive when the entrepreneur is part of a larger top management team and when the venture is active in a knowledge-intensive industry. SEM and Causal Mediation Analysis on a sample of 543 founders and their start-ups partially confirm our hypotheses. These findings improve our understanding of the role of ADHD symptoms for entrepreneurial growth aspirations by pointing to the top management team and industry context as important contingencies. More generally, they advance our understanding of how entrepreneurs' psychological characteristics interact with their immediate and wider context in determining entrepreneurial outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using survey data from 90 nations polled by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) in the past two years from 2020 to 2022, this study evaluates the effect of COVID-19 on global entrepreneurship and its mechanism using a structural equation model (SEM). The results show that under the impact of COVID-19, entrepreneurial activities are still active, becoming the fortunate choice for many people to turn danger into opportunity. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy and motivation play a significant chain-mediating role in the impact of COVID-19 on entrepreneurial activities. The entrepreneurial environment played a positive moderating role in the relationship between COVID-19 and entrepreneurial activities. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that this moderating effect is more significant in low- and middle-income economies and in the stage of epidemic normalization. Finally, this study offers policy suggestions on how to propel the entrepreneurial environment, improve entrepreneurial self-efficacy, stimulate entrepreneurial motivation, and promote entrepreneurial activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With shorter durations and fewer barriers to entry, reskilling programs may serve as vehicles for social mobility and equity, as well as tools for creating a more adaptive workforce and inclusive economy. Nevertheless, much of the limited large-scale research on these types of programs was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, given the social and economic disruptions spurred by the pandemic, our ability to understand the impact of these types of programs in recent labor market conditions is limited. We fill this gap by leveraging three waves of a longitudinal household financial survey collected across all 50 US states during the pandemic. Through descriptive and inferential methods, we explore the sociodemographic characteristics related to reskilling and associated motivations, facilitators, and barriers, as well as the relationships between reskilling and measures of social mobility. We find that reskilling is positively related to entrepreneurship and, for Black respondents, to optimism. Moreover, we find that reskilling is not merely a tool for upward social mobility, but also economic stability. However, our results demonstrate that reskilling opportunities are stratified across race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status through both formal and informal mechanisms. We close with a discussion of implications for policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Entrepreneurial spirit is considered a vital resource for the economy in various countries where entrepreneurs found businesses. It is thus crucial to analyze the relationship between entrepreneurship and global crises, as entrepreneurial initiatives can be affected by the economic instability that crises generate. This study uses bibliometric analysis to explore the topic of entrepreneurship in situations of global crisis. Theoretical framework: Starting from the structure of bibliometric analysis, we analyzed 1111 documents retrieved from the Scopus and WoS databases for the years 2000–2023. Methodology: We characterized the documents studied and analyzed citations, co-citations, co-words, and co-authorship using VOSviewer software. Results/implications: Our analysis produced results on networks among authors and countries. We also obtained significant results on the structure of the field studied and its projection for the future. Finally, we propose implications and opportunities for future lines of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most entrepreneurs seek VC funding after the reward-based crowdfunding campaign succeeds, and venture capitalists (VCs) can contribute to the project in two aspects: investment and operational expertise. With a game-theoretical model, we find that entrepreneurs face twelve possible scenarios contingent on the mass market revenue and revenue share, including the six scenarios wherein neither side exerts effort to complete the project. To attract VC funding and ensure the project completion after a campaign success, entrepreneurs should set the funding goal above a certain threshold. Specifically, we identify three ranges of the revenue share and derive the lower bound for the funding goal in each range. However, we notice that entrepreneurs prefer a low funding goal to promise the campaign success and the optimal goal will be the lower bound in each range. Moreover, we show that the revenue share is decisive to the role of VCs in the project. If the entrepreneur's share exceeds a high threshold, the venture capitalist becomes a pure investor with no incentive to exert effort, similar to the role of banks; if the share is less than a low threshold, the entrepreneur won't follow up but transfers the project, and the VC investor will be a project owner; if the share stays medium, the VC investor acts as a partner and there may exist "free-riding". In the extension, we consider the revenue share an endogenous and analyse the role of VCs further. Interestingly, the VC investor prefers to own the project and occupy all revenue in mass market, while the entrepreneur treats the inefficient venture capitalist as a pure investor and the efficient one as a partner. In addition, when cooperating with efficient VCs, the entrepreneur is more likely to enlarge her share as the mass market revenue increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurial ecosystem researchers generally focus on the few dominant factors affecting entrepreneurship. Insufficient attention has been paid to the interdependencies among regional conditions within an entrepreneurial ecosystem. We focus on the collective effects of factors for regional biomedical entrepreneurship. We use the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method to identify sets of regional conditions promoting biomedical entrepreneurship in all 381 U.S. metropolitan areas. The results indicate three configurations contributing to high levels of regional biomedical entrepreneurship: the first one combines public sector biomedical R&D, biomedical patents, and human capital, thus stressing science conditions and related human capital; the second combines public sector biomedical R&D, biomedical patents, clinical trials, and venture capital, thus placing more emphasis on the regional infrastructure sustaining entrepreneurial activity; the third combines private sector biomedical R&D, biomedical patents, human capital, per capita income, population density, and venture capital, thus emphasizing the private sector's role on boosting regional biomedical entrepreneurship. There is no single recipe for a region to increase its level of biomedical entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurs' mental well-being has been a nascent research topic in the entrepreneurship domain, but it remains unclear whether and how entrepreneurship affects mental well-being in the context of emerging economies. Drawing on the self-determination theory (SDT), we developed a model in which entrepreneurship, compared to wage–employment, was identified as a career choice more conducive to work-related and socioeconomic status (SES)-related psychological functioning (i.e., work autonomy and subjective SES), which, in turn, produces mental well-being benefits. We tested this model in the Chinese context by providing evidence based on data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) between 2010 and 2021 (N = 28,419). We found that entrepreneurs had higher levels of positive mental well-being and lower levels of negative mental well-being than paid employees. Mediation analysis showed that subjective SES mediated the relationship between entrepreneurship and mental well-being and explained this relationship better than work autonomy. These findings indicated that the mental well-being benefits of entrepreneurship existed in emerging economies like China and highlighted the crucial role of SES-related psychological functioning in facilitating entrepreneurs' mental well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has established that entrepreneurship is a masculine domain in which women are likely to experience identity conflict due to the diverging meanings and behavioral expectations of being an entrepreneur versus being a woman. In this study, we adopt a social identity perspective to investigate how women entrepreneurs perceive their gender in the face of this potential identity conflict. By analyzing the narratives from 20 in-depth interviews with women entrepreneurs, complemented by three focus groups with 44 further women, we contribute to entrepreneurship literature by offering a typology of women entrepreneurs. Based on their perceived gender-entrepreneurial fit and mindset, we characterize these entrepreneurs as experiencing imposter feelings, acceptance, or authenticity. Through this typology, our research illustrates that there is variation in women's perception of their gender in entrepreneurship, indicating that, while some women entrepreneurs experience imposter feelings from the identity conflict of being both a woman and an entrepreneur, others avoid or overcome such an identity conflict, finding ways to benefit from being different in the face of male dominated views of entrepreneurial success. Plain English Summary: We illustrate how women perceive their gender in the face of a possible identity conflict in entrepreneurship. Depending on their perceived gender-entrepreneurial fit and mindset, they experience imposter feelings, acceptance, or authenticity. Although more women are becoming entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurship field is still dominated by men. One of the reasons may be the fact that women often feel they do not "fit in" as entrepreneurs and consider themselves (and are seen) as being less legitimate and successful than their male counterparts. In our study, we propose a typology of women entrepreneurs, which we classify as experiencing imposter feelings, acceptance, or authenticity depending on their perceived gender-entrepreneurial fit and mindset. Thus, the principal implication of this study is to shed light on how women see themselves as entrepreneurs and offer evidence that can help us better understand and support women's entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The board of directors' behavioral dynamics can strongly influence an entrepreneurial firm's success. Drawing on the behavioral theory of corporate governance, this study identifies and tests factors that facilitate behavioral integration in boards of high technology start-ups. We unpack the black box of board behavior with primary data collected from a survey-based sample of 149 CEOs of Norwegian high-tech start-ups supplemented by quantitative archival information. We find that intra-board behavioral integration (i.e., board members' propensity to clearly understand one another's issues and needs, actively solve, and share relevant information and resources) is positively affected by greater levels of informal communication between CEOs and board members. Next, we find that inter-board trust (i.e., board members interact with absolute integrity, tell the truth at meetings, trust one another, and keep mutual promises) mediates this relationship such that higher levels of inter-board trust result in greater concordance between information communication frequency and inter-board behavioral integration. We then examine the role of an efficacious board chair who motivates and uses each board member's competence, formulates proposals for decisions and summarizes conclusions after board negotiation, and chairs board discussions without promoting their agenda, finding that efficacious board chair leadership moderates the relationship between informal communication frequency and intra-board trust. We discuss the implications of these findings for the theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial technology (fintech) has developed rapidly worldwide in recent years and is deemed an important driver for firms' innovation performance. Understanding the intricate relationship between fintech development and innovation activities is essential for promoting corporate innovation and value creation, particularly in the dynamic landscape of the digital economy. Therefore, this study delves into this significant issue within the specific context of China by employing panel regression techniques to analyze data from both Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies spanning the period 2011–2021. By doing so, it aims to uncover the underlying mechanisms through which fintech development influences innovation activities. Findings herein reveal a significantly positive impact of fintech on patent output, indicating a strong correlation between fintech development and corporate innovation. Additionally, the study emphasizes the role of fintech in fostering entrepreneurship by alleviating financial constraints that entrepreneurs often face. This in turn leads to a boost in their innovation activities, further highlighting the crucial role of fintech in promoting innovation within the corporate sector. The study also unveils that fintech has a particularly significant impact on innovation within private firms, manufacturing firms, and companies located in both the central and western regions of China. These findings thus suggest that the government should reduce and relax limits to stimulate the advancement and utilization of fintech, while entrepreneurs should make full use of the opportunities created by fintech to finance their innovative activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomenon of outsider-driven institutional entrepreneurship may appear both paradoxical and opaque. We examine outsider-driven institutional entrepreneurship by drawing on an in-depth qualitative case study of the emerging field of positive psychology education. We investigate how institutional entrepreneurs, located outside Kuwait's Ministry of Education, enabled actors inside the Ministry both to deviate from existing institutional arrangements and to institutionalize new practices. Our findings illustrate that outsider-driven institutional entrepreneurship in emerging fields starts with 'normalization', that is, the production of claims, arguments, and evidence, about the effectiveness of the newly proposed practices. Our study contributes to the literature on outsider-driven institutional entrepreneurship in emerging fields by identifying a set of critical activities associated with deviation from prevailing institutional arrangements, and the institutionalization of innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge, general and specific, plays a role in entrepreneurship. Little is known about the role of general knowledge in entrepreneurial intentions. This study fills the gap by proposing financial knowledge as general knowledge and entrepreneurial education as specific knowledge, and investigates their effects on entrepreneurial intentions and the three motivational factors including attitudes, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Using survey data of 480 undergraduates and the structural equation modeling approach, we find a significant impact of financial knowledge on entrepreneurial intentions and all three motivational factors. Entrepreneurial education does not have a significant direct impact but has an indirect effect on entrepreneurial intentions through attitude and perceived behavioral control. These results are important to educators and policymakers to design appropriate policies to improve financial knowledge due to its significant role in entrepreneurial decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study develops a crisis response theory that could help Nigeria sustain itself in the present crisis, which is deepening unemployment, poverty, and misery due to the tremendous economic crisis it faced after the global pandemic. Entrepreneurship is viewed as a pivotal engine for reinstating the declining economic state of a country. Through the positivist research approach, the study is conducted on the owners and business executives of SMEs established and operated by entrepreneurs in Nigeria. The data analyzed through surveys, in-depth telephone interviews, and secondary sources shows that Nigeria's economic instability is mainly because of a lack of financial assistance, industrialization, and technology limitations. Though it was observed that the government reduced certain unfriendly business regulations, corruption still caused funding conditions to shift frequently, and unreliable government policies made it challenging for entrepreneurs to thrive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide a large scale within-country analysis of the effect of language future time reference (FTR) on self-employment using individual-level data from Switzerland, a country characterized by a long-standing multilingualism and a large share of immigrant population. We test the hypothesis that speakers of languages where future tense marking is not obligatory in prediction contexts (defined as weak FTR) may have a closer perception of future rewards and be more willing to become self-employed, a choice that reflects future orientation. We perform an epidemiological analysis which consistently indicates that long-term immigrants who speak weak FTR languages are between 2 and 4 percentage points more likely to be self-employed compared to speakers of strong FTR languages, net of unobservable ancestral cultural traits, districts of destination's characteristics, and linguistic features other than FTR. We find that the effect is largest when the main language of daily use is the mother tongue, but the effect is also significant when the main language is learnt later in life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]