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on Entrepreneurship |
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Issue of 2013‒06‒30
seven papers chosen by Marcus Dejardin University of Namur and Universite' Catholique de Louvain |
| By: | Doepke, Matthias (Northwestern University); Zilibotti, Fabrizio (University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | We discuss the two-way link between culture and economic growth. We present a model of endogenous technical change where growth is driven by the innovative activity of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is risky and requires investments that affect the steepness of the lifetime consumption profile. As a consequence, the occupational choice of entrepreneurship hinges on risk tolerance and patience. Parents expecting their children to become entrepreneurs have an incentive to instill these two values in their children. Cultural transmission is Beckerian, i.e., parents are driven by the desire to maximize their children's happiness. We also consider, in an extension, a paternalistic motive for preference transmission. The growth rate of the economy depends on the fraction of the population choosing an entrepreneurial career. How many entrepreneurs there are in a society hinges, in turn, on parental investments in children's patience and risk tolerance. There can be multiple balanced-growth paths, where in faster-growing countries more people exhibit an "entrepreneurial spirit." We discuss applications of models of endogenous preferences to the analysis of socio-economic transformations, such as the British Industrial Revolution. We also discuss empirical studies documenting the importance of culture and preference heterogeneity for economic growth. |
| Keywords: | culture, entrepreneurship, innovation, economic growth, endogenous preferences, intergenerational preference transmission |
| JEL: | J20 O10 O40 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7459&r=ent |
| By: | Broström, Anders (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Baltzopoulos, Apostolos (Swedish Competition Authority) |
| Abstract: | Human capital theory suggests that higher education, as a means of capability creation and of ability screening, is positively associated with individuals’ success as entrepreneurs. This paper argues that social capital perspectives, in particular the theory of local embeddedness and team formation theory, complement human capital theory in explaining the relationship between higher education attainment and entrepreneurial success. However, human and social capital perspectives apply to different domains. While the former is appropriate for knowledge-based entrepreneurship, the latter is primarily valid in contexts where specialized analytical knowledge plays a less accentuated role. These propositions are supported by an investigation of survival and growth of entrepreneurial ventures in Sweden. |
| Keywords: | Higher education; entrepreneurship; universities; entrepreneurial performance |
| JEL: | I23 L26 O18 R30 |
| Date: | 2013–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0321&r=ent |
| By: | Caliendo, Marco (University of Potsdam); Künn, Steffen (IZA) |
| Abstract: | Recent microeconometric evaluation studies have shown that start-up subsidies for unemployed individuals are an effective policy tool to improve long-term employment and income prospects of participants, in particular compared to other active labor market programs (e.g. training, job search assistance or job creation schemes). What has not been examined yet are the potentially heterogeneous effects of start-up programs across regional labor markets. Labor demand side restrictions in areas with relatively bad labor market conditions generally increase entries into start-up programs as job offers are limited and starting an own business is an opportunity to leave unemployment. However, the survival of firms in deprived areas is also lower, such that the overall effect remains an empirical question. We use a combination of administrative and survey data and observe participants in two distinct start-up programs in Germany for five years after start-up as well as a control group of unemployed who did not enter these programs. We add information on unemployment rates and GDP per capita at the labor agency district level to distinguish regional labor markets. Using propensity score matching methods we find supportive evidence that the founding process and development of businesses as well as program effectiveness is influenced by prevailing economic conditions at start-up. |
| Keywords: | start-up subsidies, evaluation, effect heterogeneity, regional effects, self-employment |
| JEL: | J68 R11 C14 H43 L26 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7460&r=ent |
| By: | Michael Fritsch (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena); Ronney Aamoucke (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena) |
| Abstract: | Based on detailed information about the regional knowledge base, particularly about universities, we find that regional public research and education have a strong positive impact on new business formation in innovative industries but not in industries classified as non-innovative. Measures for the presence and size of public academic institutions have more of an effect on the formation of innovative new businesses than indicators that reflect the quality of these institutions. We find relatively weak evidence for interregional spillovers of these effects. Our results clearly demonstrate the importance of localized knowledge and, especially, of public research for the emergence of innovative new businesses. |
| Keywords: | New business formation, innovative start-ups, universities, regional knowledge |
| JEL: | L26 L60 L80 O18 R12 R30 |
| Date: | 2013–06–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2013-026&r=ent |
| By: | Agustí Segarra (Universitat Rovira i Virgili & CREIP); José García-Quevedo (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB); Mercedes Teruel (Universitat Rovira i Virgili & CREIP) |
| Abstract: | Theoretical and empirical approaches have stressed the existence of financial constraints in innovative activities of firms. This paper analyses the role of financial obstacles on the likelihood of abandoning an innovation project. Although a large number of innovation projects are abandoned before their completion, the empirical evidence has focused on the determinants of innovation while failed projects have received little attention. Our analysis differentiates between internal and external barriers on the probability of abandoning a project and we examine whether the effects are different depending on the stage of the innovation process. In the empirical analysis carried out for a panel data of potential innovative Spanish firms for the period 2004-2010, we use a bivariate probit model to take into account the simultaneity of financial constraints and the decision to abandon an innovation project. Our results show that financial constraints most affect the probability of abandoning an innovation project during the concept stage and that low-technological manufacturing and non-KIS service sectors are more sensitive to financial constraints. |
| Keywords: | Barriers to innovation, failure of innovation projects, financial constraints |
| JEL: | O31 D21 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2013/6/doc2013-11&r=ent |
| By: | Vincent Lefebvre (ISC Paris Business School - ISC Paris Business School); Miruna Radu Lefebvre (Audencia Recherche - Audencia) |
| Abstract: | This conceptual paper examines the issue of integrating CSR at the start-up level with the aim of increasing the firm's ability to identify new opportunities. Both a constraint and an occasion to strengthen the company's legitimacy and competitive advantage, CSR principles and practices are a key vehicle for opportunity identification and implementation. Historically, SMEs have contributed significantly to the improvement of existing products and services, and the creation of new ones. Grounding CSR in the strategy of enterprises at the start-up level is increasingly examined as an effective management tool with multiple benefits for opportunity identification. CSR may be promoted as a means of nurturing creativity and innovation at the start-up level and beyond, through pushing entrepreneurs to imagine new business models, to discover new raw materials, as well as to create new products and services so as to respond to both economic and social expectations. |
| Keywords: | opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial opportunity, CSR, entrepreneurship, creativity |
| Date: | 2012–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00836856&r=ent |
| By: | Miruna Radu Lefebvre (Audencia Recherche - Audencia); Renaud Redien-Collot (Novancia - Novancia) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the legitimating process of a French higher education institution entirely dedicated to entrepreneurship. Management and entrepreneurship education strive both for academic and market legitimacies. We think entrepreneurship education is confronted with an additional challenge: building political legitimacy. We analyze the "extreme case" study of Advancia, a Paris business school. We examined the business school's legitimation process over a period of six years, from 2004 to 2010. This "extreme case" may be informative for other business schools willing to reach academic, market and political legitimacies while at the same time trying to develop a coherent and stable global strategy in a competitive higher education landscape. This is the first article dealing with the topic of legitimacy acquisition processes, with the aim of emphasizing the institutionalization of entrepreneurial mindset in French entrepreneurship higher education. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; education; legitimacy |
| Date: | 2012–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00836392&r=ent |