Small Business Economics (2014, 42, 3, 445-465)
GEM research: achievements and challenges
Claudia Álvarez, David Urbano and José Ernesto Amorós
- This article analyzes the content and evolution of research based on the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) project. We conducted a rigorous search of articles published in journals within the Thomson Reuters’ Social Sciences Citation Index through an exploratory analysis focused on articles using GEM data. The main findings of this study reveal that the institutional approach is the most commonly used conceptual framework. Also, although there are still few academic publications using GEM data, the number of articles is increasing, as are opportunities for future research.
Small Business Economics (2014, 42, 3, 507-522).
Hierarchy and conservatism in the contributions of resources to entrepreneurial activity
Dirk de Clercq, Dominic SK Lim and Chang Hoon Oh
- This study addresses the relationship between the munificence offered by a country’s proximate institutions in terms of a critical financial resource (informal investments) and human resource (entrepreneurship education) and its early-stage entrepreneurial activity. We also examine how this relationship might be moderated by underlying cultural values. Our main thesis is that the positive effects of resource munificence of proximate institutions on early-stage entrepreneurial activity should be attenuated in countries with a more hierarchical and conservative culture. We test our hypotheses using a multi-source dataset that spans 42 countries.
Journal for East European Management Studies (2014, 19, 1, 7-30).
The effect of financial resource availability on entrepreneurial orientation, customer orientation and firm performance in an international context: an empirical analysis from Austria and Hungary
Matthias Filser, Fabian Eggers, Sascha Kraus and Éva Malovics
- This study investigates the impact of financial resource availability on entrepreneurial orientation (EO), customer orientation (CO) and on growth in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Austria and Hungary. Structural equation modeling revealed that financial resource availability is attributed to EO and, subsequently, to firm growth. However, differences prevail between the two analyzed countries. While financial resource availability fosters CO in Hungary, there is no effect identified with regard to financial resource availability and CO in Austria. Furthermore, the effect of CO on firm growth showed negative effects in both of the analyzed countries.
Small Business Economics (2014, 42, 4, 685-701).
National culture, entrepreneurship and economic development: different patterns across the European Union
Francisco Liñán and José Fernandez-serrano
- The aim of this paper is double. Firstly, it contributes to identifying the specific role of national culture as a variable that helps explain the level of economic development and reinforces the effect of entrepreneurship on the income level. Secondly, a deeper understanding of these relations in the case of the European Union is sought. In this study, data from two different sources have been used. The Schwartz Value Survey measures seven cultural orientations that are then grouped into three bipolar dimensions (embeddedness vs. autonomy, hierarchy vs. egalitarianism and mastery vs. harmony). The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor provides information regarding entrepreneurial activity. Using linear regression analysis, cultural and entrepreneurial variables are able to classify countries according to their development level, explaining over 60 % of the variance in Gross Domestic Product per capita. The role of culture is complex, with geographical elements being significantly relevant. In the case of Europe, some common elements conform what could be called “a European culture”: autonomy and egalitarianism clearly predominate over embeddedness and hierarchy, while harmony tends to prevail over mastery. Nevertheless, four well-defined groups of countries within the European Union emerge. Central and Northern Europe is closer to this European stereotypical culture, while English-speaking countries, Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean area exhibit their own differentiating elements each. These differences also exist with regard to entrepreneurial activity (overall Total Entrepreneurial Activity, necessity and opportunity-driven activity). Each of the four regional entrepreneurial cultures is characterized by a different entrepreneurial dynamics that may be plausibly explained by culture and income.
Journal of Business Venturing (2014, 29, 3, 377-391)
When do domestic alliances help ventures abroad? Direct and moderating effects from a learning perspective
Hana Milanov and Stephanie A Fernhaber
- While the importance of strategic alliances for new venture internationalization is well acknowledged, the effect of domestic partners remains less understood. Building on organizational learning theory’s vicarious learning arguments, we suggest that internationally experienced domestic partners positively influence new ventures’ international intensity. Moreover, acknowledging that ventures may have multiple learning sources, we argue that the effect is more pronounced when substituting for the lack of new ventures’ top management teams’ international experience, or when complementing the insights about foreign markets received from foreign alliance partners. The analysis of 194 publicly held new ventures largely supports our hypotheses.
Corporate Governance: An International Review (2014, 22, 2, 77-83).
Public and corporate governance and young global entrepreneurial firms
Shaker A Zahra
- New ventures are internationalizing their operations from inception. This creates opportunities for growth and profitability. However, early internationalization creates serious challenges for effective governance. This article focuses on two key layers of governance (public and corporate) and how they interact to influence global entrepreneurial young firms, especially those born globals that enter foreign markets from inception (e.g., internet companies) or soon after their establishment, also known as early internationalizers. Though established companies also create new businesses dedicated to international business, they differ in fundamental ways from their younger counterparts that venture into international markets. Therefore, in this article, we focus on those global entrepreneurial young companies. We propose that the interaction of public and corporate governance systems has important implications for global entrepreneurial young firms’ strategic choices as they seek to position themselves in their markets. Ideally, public and corporate governance systems combine to ensure the viability, survival and success of these firms. Born global and early internationalizing new ventures encounter distinct problems centered on free riding and management of intellectual property. Public governance establishes the essential framework that can guide the resolution of these issues. Corporate governance systems interact with public governance to harmonize the interests of different claimants, especially in disputes that arise across national borders. Corporate governance systems not only ensure effective monitoring of owner-managers but define what they do and how to do it in a highly globalized environment. The article shows how public and corporate governance systems interact over time, determining the fate of global new ventures. It also articulates how these systems define and protect intellectual property rights. The discussion highlights the role of governance in a global marketplace where intangibles define success and failure, pointing out the efficacy of traditional agency theory while underscoring the need for revising its boundaries. Future theorizing should consider diversity of managerial motives, and these motives are influenced by national institutions. As a result, we should not start with the assumption that the interests of firms and owners are perfectly aligned. There is a need to understand the dynamic interplay between public and corporate governance systems, placing a greater focus on value creation across international borders. This interplay defines what managers (owner-managers) do and how they lead their ventures in a global environment, one that is characterized by political and institutional uncertainties. The discussion makes clear that national institutions shape the definition and performance of managerial decisions and roles.