|
on Entrepreneurship |
| By: | Parry, C. |
| Abstract: | I develop and estimate an equilibrium model of the VC market to quantify distortions and explain cross-country differences in VC activity. The model maps directly to observable start-up funding histories and outcomes, facilitating estimation. For US start-ups first funded in 2005–2015, my estimates suggest that 40% shut down despite having positive continuation value; with continued funding, half would achieve a successful exit. In the UK, the model attributes the gap in activity to the US to financing conditions and acquisition opportunities, and counterfactuals suggest there may be gains to retargeting existing government support towards late-stage start-ups. |
| Keywords: | Start-Ups, Innovation, Venture Capital |
| JEL: | G24 G32 L26 O31 |
| Date: | 2026–08–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2682 |
| By: | Cristiana Benedetti-Fasil; Giammario Impullitti; Omar Licandro; Petr Sedlacek; Adam Hal Spencer |
| Abstract: | Do firms differ in their innovation response to business cycles? What economic forces shape this heterogeneity? And does it matter for aggregate propagation? We document substantial heterogeneity in firm-level R&D cyclicality, develop a theory to explain this fact, and validate its key mechanism in the data. In a tractable model of business cycles and innovation-driven growth, endogenous selection makes R&D particularly responsive to aggregate conditions for firms close to the exit margin. Consistent with this mechanism, firms closer to exit display more procyclical R&D in the data. Quantitatively, selection and endogenous growth interact powerfully: selection generates heterogeneous R&D cyclicality, while endogenous growth translates these heterogeneous responses into persistent aggregate effects. Ignoring heterogeneous R&D cyclicality misses roughly half of the long-run output cost of a severe recession. |
| Keywords: | growth, business cycles, innovation, heterogeneous firms, selection |
| JEL: | E32 O31 O40 L1 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_13087 |
| By: | Carayannis, Elias G.; Zotas, Nikos R. |
| Abstract: | Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) increasingly operate in environments characterised by technological acceleration, regulatory change, market volatility, sustainability pressures, and shifting competitive conditions. Strategic foresight can strengthen organisational preparedness by enabling firms to identify emerging developments, explore uncertainty, and consider alternative futures. Yet recognising strategically relevant change does not necessarily result in timely organisational response. This conceptual paper addresses this problem by introducing the Foresight- Action Gap, defined as the behavioural and organisational distance between recognising a strategically relevant future development and initiating an appropriate strategic response. Drawing on strategic foresight, behavioural decision-making, digital nudging, managerial attention, and dynamic capabilities, the paper develops a Behaviourally Enabled Strategic Foresight (BESF) framework tailored to the characteristics of SMEs. BESF integrates six functions: sensing, interpretation, anticipation, prioritisation, action, and organisational learning. The framework proposes that context-sensitive digital nudges can reduce specific behavioural frictions within this process while preserving managerial autonomy. Rather than assuming that nudging universally improves decisions, it emphasises friction-intervention fit and organisational context. The paper develops six theoretical propositions and a staged empirical agenda for validating the Foresight-Action Gap and the BESF framework. |
| Keywords: | strategic foresight, digital nudging, SMEs, strategic decisionmaking, managerial attention, dynamic capabilities, Foresight-Action Gap |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iedlwp:344251 |
| By: | Mudiriza, Gibson; Martino, Samantha De; Cunningham, Wendy |
| Abstract: | Drawing on qualitative data from 11 key informants and 75 small-scale firm owners in South Africa’s townships, this paper identifies five factors shaping micro-entrepreneurial success. First, micro-entrepreneurship often begins as employment of last resort but evolves into a deliberate choice as owners value its autonomy and independence. Second, social and communal networks expand access to shared resources, information, and markets. Third, complex processes and limited benefits discourage firm registration, even though entrepreneurs feel that it boosts customer trust and patronage. Fourth, access to government support is low, hindered by perceived program irrelevance and stringent eligibility criteria. Fifth, success depends less on finance than on resilience, resourcefulness, and mindset. These findings underscore the need for holistic programs offering business training, socio-emotional skills, mentorship, and collective business strategies tailored to the township economy. |
| Date: | 2026–05–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:hdnspu:210207 |
| By: | Paul A. Gompers; Henry Woo |
| Abstract: | Immigrant founders of US venture-backed startups exit successfully more often than native founders. Does this hold worldwide? Using career histories for 913, 226 founder-firm pairs in 213 countries (1990–2026), we compare founders who build abroad (expats) or return home after foreign experience (returnees) with comparable local founders in the same country. Both expats and returnees raise early funding more often globally. Expats' success premium, however, concentrates in the US (18 percent) and UK (26 percent), especially among those entering the US through graduate school, work, or direct founding. Returnees rarely show such a premium. Capital follows mobile founders across borders, but success follows them selectively. |
| JEL: | F22 G24 J24 J61 L26 J6 J60 J69 O57 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35943 |
| By: | Sweta Patnaik (Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town) |
| Abstract: | In an era marked by economic uncertainty and environmental urgency, entrepreneurs are increasingly turning to sustainable innovation as a pathway to resilience and growth. This paper examines how the transformation of textile off-cut waste into functional and marketable products serves as both an entrepreneurial response to material scarcity and a strategic contribution to the circular economy. In contrast to high-capital technological innovation, this form of resource-based creativity offers accessible, low-cost solutions for emerging enterprises, particularly in the fashion and textile sectors. Drawing on examples of micro and small businesses navigating uncertain economic terrain, the study highlights how such innovations can generate value, reduce waste, and meet growing consumer demand for sustainability. While many entrepreneurs falter in the face of early challenges, those who reframe problems as opportunities particularly through material reuse are better positioned to survive and scale. This paper argues that innovation rooted in environmental consciousness and adaptability is not only viable during times of uncertainty but essential for long-term entrepreneurial success and inclusive economic recovery. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable entrepreneurship, Innovation, Textile waste, Circular economy, Resource-based innovation, Economic uncertainty, Fashion and textile industry, Green business models, Waste-to-product, Inclusive growth |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:16117357 |
| By: | Cassidy, Rachel; McKenzie, David; Neelamraju, Kalyan N. |
| Abstract: | Women-owned-or-led small and medium-sized enterprises (WSMEs) are underrepresented in public and corporate supply chains worldwide. There is growing interest in promoting SMEs’ and WSMEs’ integration into value chains, but limited causal evidence whether interventions to support their participation in procurement are effective. This paper conducts a phased randomized controlled trial to estimate the impacts of corporate procurement training for WSMEs in Colombia. The program increases procurement knowledge and readiness, resulting in a ten percentage point increase in registrations to corporate portals, and an eight percentage point increase in the likelihood of submitting a bid. Impacts on winning bids are concentrated in WSMEs with prior procurement knowledge or experience, whose probability of winning a contract increases by eight to nine percentage points. These impacts are approximately twenty percent of the control means. More broadly, the paper illustrates how complier-weighted treatment effects can be used to evaluate programs delivered through a funnel-shaped participation process, common in private sector development interventions. |
| Date: | 2026–10–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11481 |
| By: | Congressional Budget Office |
| Abstract: | Almost half of the employees at small businesses work for ones that do not offer a health insurance plan. Many people in households in which someone works at a small business (and nobody works at a large business) rely on coverage from Medicaid, through a family member working elsewhere, or from the nongroup marketplace. People in such households are three times as likely to be uninsured as people in households with workers at larger businesses. |
| JEL: | H30 I13 I18 |
| Date: | 2026–09–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbo:report:57984 |
| By: | Malika Azimova (Singapore Institute of Management Development in Tashkent) |
| Abstract: | This article examines the institutional and economic conditions shaping the development of franchising in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Drawing on an analy-sis of the legal and regulatory framework, industry statistics, field research, and comparisons with selected international markets, the study identifies the main fac-tors limiting the sector's growth and proposes a phased model for its institutional development. Particular attention is given to regional disparities, the sectoral composition of the market, and the potential of locally developed franchise sys-tems to support entrepreneurship and expand employment opportunities. The empirical evidence covers the period 2024?2025 and includes an analysis of commercial concession agreements as well as expert interviews with market par-ticipants from eight regions of Uzbekistan. |
| Keywords: | Franchising, Commercial concession, Institutional barriers, Small business, Regional development, Economic modernization |
| JEL: | L26 L53 O17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iefpro:16217331 |