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on Entrepreneurship |
| By: | Gries,Thomas; Naudé, Wim |
| Abstract: | We provide a formal model of entrepreneurship in human development. The framework is provided by the capabilities approach (CA). Hence we extend not only the conceptualisation of entrepreneurship in development, but the reach of the CA into entrepreneurship. From a CA view, entrepreneurship is not only a production factor, or a means to an end, as is often taken to be the case by economists, but also an end in itself. Entrepreneurship can be a human functioning and can contribute towards expanding the set of human capabilities through being both a resource and a process. Our model shows, however, that entrepreneurship is not automatically a functioning. Where it is a necessity it stops being a valued functioning. The model also shows that even when entrepreneurship is valued, entrepreneurs may often not match their ideas with suitable opportunities. Policy implications are discussed. |
| Keywords: | capability approach, entrepreneurship, human development |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2010-68&r=ent |
| By: | Ohlsson, Henrik (Lund University); Broomé, Per (Malmö University); Bevelander, Pieter (Malmö University) |
| Abstract: | Earlier studies on entrepreneurship and self-employment among immigrants call attention to the fact that also the "market" for self-employment or entrepreneurs consists of a supply and demand side as well as the interaction between these two. More recent research suggests that a mix of personal resources, the surrounding structural context of markets, competition and the current political and economic environment, all acting together are seen as determining factors affecting self-employment by immigrants. However, few studies have been able to quantify the importance of these different aspects that determine ethnic self-employment. The central aim of this paper is therefore, by using multilevel regression, to quantify the role the country of birth respectively labour market area plays for understanding individual differences in self-employment. Using register data on individuals for the year of 2007 for the entire Swedish population we have in this study a unique opportunity to quantify the relative importance of the self-employers embeddedness in the social and ethnic networks (country of birth) and the regional business and public regulatory framework (labour market areas) measured. Our results suggest that of the total variation in individual differences in self-employment can 14 % (men) respectively 16 % (women) be attributed to the ethnic group and the labour market area. Furthermore, the ethnical groups accounted for 70 % (men) and 78 % (women) of this higher level variance. These results show that the social and ethnical context (measured by country of birth) and the economic environment (measured by local labour market areas) played a minor role for understanding individual differences in self-employment. These results can have important implications when planning interventions or other actions focusing on self-employment. Focusing only on ethnical groups/labour market areas might be inefficient as approximately 85 % of the variation is not explained by ethnical groups/labour market areas. Instead more general approaches or interventions focusing on other groups that capture a larger part of the variation might be more efficient. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, self-employment, integration, entrepreneurship, multilevel logistic regression |
| JEL: | J15 J21 L26 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4976&r=ent |
| By: | Kohnert, Dirk |
| Abstract: | The remarkable influx of Chinese migrant entrepreneurs in different West African countries in recent years has been met with growing resistance by established local entrepreneurs. Whether the former have a competitive edge over the latter because of distinctive socio-cultural traits, or whether the Chinese supposed effectiveness is just a characteristic feature of any trading Diaspora, is open to question. This exploratory study of Chinese and Nigerian entrepreneurial migrants in Ghana and Benin tries to answer this question. Apparently, the cultural motive powers of migrant drivers of change are not restricted to inherited value systems or religions like a protestant ethic or Confucianism, but they are permanently adapted and invented anew by transnational networks of migration in a globalized world. There is no evidence for a supposed superiority of Chinese versus African innovative cultures of entrepreneurial migrants. Rather there exists an enhanced innovative capacity of a trading Diaspora in general vis-à-vis local entrepreneurs, regardless of the background national culture in which it is embedded. In addition, the rivalry of Chinese and Nigerian migrant entrepreneurs in African markets does not necessarily lead to the often suspected cut-throat competition under the impact of globalization. Often both groups act rather complementary. This contributes under certain conditions even to poverty alleviation in the host country. |
| Keywords: | trading diasporas; international migration; entrepreneurs; culture; innovation; SME; Africa; China; Nigeria; Cotonou; Accra; |
| JEL: | F22 N85 N87 O15 J61 Z13 M13 R23 |
| Date: | 2010–06–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:23132&r=ent |
| By: | Erik Monsen (Max Planck Institute of Economics, Germany); Prashanth Mahagaonkar (University of Wuppertal, Germany); Christian Dienes (University of Wuppertal, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Occupational transition from salaried to self-employment is an important issue in developed economies, but is even more critical in emerging economies, as individuals' occupational choices can drive economic development. Using data on 3637 individuals from India, we examine the effect of regional factors on actual and intended transition. We find that self-employment and unemployment rates decrease actual and intended transition, and the effects are at least four times greater than that of individual-level factors. In addition, we find that urban versus rural location moderates the effects of income ratios and state GDP, with the effects being greater in rural locations. |
| Keywords: | Occupational Transition, Self-Employment, Emerging Economies |
| JEL: | J24 J62 L26 O12 O18 O53 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwu:schdps:sdp10007&r=ent |
| By: | Olivier Witmeur; Alain Fayolle |
| Abstract: | Starting from main concerns and gaps identified in literature on growth strategies, the research, based on Miller’s seminal work on strategic configurations, elaborates and tests a typology of strategic configurations for young entrepreneurial IT services firms. The approach is longitudinal, qualitative and exploratory by nature. The proposed configuration typology is derived from the academic and professional literature in entrepreneurship. It is then compared with multiple and triangulated data collected in four Belgian firms, according to a rigorous data collection and analysis process. A matching exercise between the typology and the cases assesses the theoretical relevance of each configurational framework in order to explain the diversity of growth strategies and the way they evolve over time. The results open new perspectives and avenues for future research, including further work on the complementarities between the configurational and process approach. |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/57626&r=ent |
| By: | Erol Taymaz (Middle East Technical University); Ebru Voyvoda (Middle East Technical University); Kamil Yilmaz (Koc University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines direct and indirect contributions of foreign firms and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to aggregate productivity growth. We focus our attention on foreign firms and small firms for three reasons. First, industrial policy in almost all countries is oriented towards supporting SMEs and attracting foreign investment. Second, these two categories of firms contribute to micro-heterogeneity in all industries. Third, the recent industrial dynamics literature on foreign investment and small firms emphasizes the potential benefits of foreign firms and SMEs in generating new technologies, and creating new jobs. Using the data for Turkish manufacturing plants, we estimate production functions for all ISIC 4-digit level industries for the 1983-2001 period. We decompose productivity growth into its components (structural change, entry and exit, technical change, efficiency change, and scale effects) by firm ownership and size. The decomposition analysis by firm ownership and size allows us to understand the sources of productivity contributions by foreign firms and small firms. |
| Keywords: | Productivity dynamics, decomposition, foreign direct investment, small and medium sized enterprises |
| JEL: | D24 L25 L60 |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:koc:wpaper:1020&r=ent |
| By: | Yamauchi, Yuki; Endo, Takahiro |
| Abstract: | In contrast to previous research, this paper illustrates a process in which institutional entrepreneurs play less significant roles in creating a new practice. We drew on a historical case study that deals with the emergence of a new practice of emphasizing fashionable design of a type of clothing known as meisen. In the historical case study, multiple actors played distinctive and essential roles, which, as a whole, led to the creation of a new practice. |
| Date: | 2010–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hjbswp:115&r=ent |
| By: | Javorcik, Beata S.; Saggi, Kamal |
| Abstract: | How does the preferred entry mode of foreign investors depend on their technological capability relative to that of their rivals? This article develops a simple model of entry mode choice and evaluates its main testable implication using data on foreign investors in Eastern European countries and the successor states of the Soviet Union. The model considers competition between two asymmetric foreign investors and captures the following trade-off: while a joint venture (JV) helps a foreign investor secure a better position in the product market vis-à-vis its rival, it also requires that profits be shared with the local partner. The model predicts that the efficient foreign investor is less likely to choose a JV and more likely to enter directly relative to the inefficient investor. Our empirical analysis supports this prediction: foreign investors with more sophisticated technologies and marketing skills (relative to other firms in their industry) tend to prefer direct entry to JVs. This empirical finding is robust to controlling for host country–specific effects and other commonly cited determinants of entry mode. |
| JEL: | F13 O32 D F23 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:oxford:http://economics.ouls.ox.ac.uk/14766/&r=ent |