Building new space for institutional theory, we propose how the severity of formal and informal institutional voids shapes the productivity of entrepreneurial activities within society. Our theory ...makes the key assumptions that voids can exist in both formal and informal institutions and that they are capable of hindering entrepreneurial behavior that is favorable to development progress. We extend new theoretical domains by conceptualizing informal institutional voids and proposing how both formal and informal institutional voids and their interaction influence two qualitative outcomes within localities: (1) the unique forms of entrepreneurial activity, and (2) the objectives underlying this entrepreneurial activity.
Microloans garnered from crowdfunding provide an important source of financial capital for nascent entrepreneurs. Drawing on cognitive evaluation theory, we assess how linguistic cues known to affect ...underlying motivation can frame entrepreneurial narratives either as a business opportunity or as an opportunity to help others. We examine how this framing affects fundraising outcomes in the context of prosocial lending and conduct our analysis on a sample of microloans made to over 36,000 entrepreneurs in 51 countries via an online crowdfunding platform. We find that lenders respond positively to narratives highlighting the venture as an opportunity to help others, and less positively when the narrative is framed as a business opportunity.
Competencies necessary for entrepreneurial action are investigated. Building on structuration theory, competencies are approached as an outgrowth of the learning of scripts deriving from interactions ...between the individual and environment. Managerial and entrepreneurial competencies are distinguished, with the latter helping to define the domain of entrepreneurship education. Employing a elphi methodology, evidence is provided of a core set of 13 entrepreneurial competencies. Measures are then developed with a pilot study involving students in an international education program. Based on pre- and post-measures, findings demonstrate significant improvement on the competencies. Implications are drawn for the role of entrepreneurship education in competency development.
What is the interrelationship among formal institutions, social networks, and new venture growth? Drawing on the theory of institutional polycentrism and social network theory, we examine this ...question using data on 637 entrepreneurs from four different countries. We find the confluence of weak and inefficient formal institutions to be associated with a larger number of structural holes in entrepreneurial social networks. While the effect of this institutional order on the revenue growth of new ventures is negative, a network's structural holes have a positive effect on revenue growth. Furthermore, the positive effect of structural holes on revenue growth is stronger in an environment with a more adverse institutional order (i.e., weaker and more inefficient institutions). The contributions and implications of these findings are discussed.
The informal economy consists of economic activities that occur outside of formal institutional boundaries but which remain within informal institutional boundaries for large segments of society. We ...draw from diverse disciplines to frame research concerning entrepreneurship in the informal economy around three separate theories: institutional theory, motivation-related theories from a sociological perspective, and resource allocation theory. Each of these theories provides a complementary lens through which to examine the incentives, constraints, motivations, strategies, and abilities of entrepreneurs to operate and grow their ventures in the informal economy. Employing these theoretical perspectives facilitates efforts to highlight the breadth of informal economy research in different domains and lays foundations for future entrepreneurship research.
► We frame informal economy research within three separate theories. ► Institutional theory, motivation-related theories, and resource allocation theory frame informal economy research. ► Each framing is used to develop propositions that may serve as a foundation for future research.
This study draws upon affective events theory, research regarding funders' perceptions, and research regarding expectation alignment between products and their presenters to develop and test an ...indirect effects model of crowdfunding resource allocation decisions. To test our hypothesized relationships, we drew upon a sample of 102 participants who each assessed ten different product pitches made by ten different entrepreneurs. Results from the study indicate that perceived product creativity is positively related to crowdfunding performance, both directly and indirectly, via positive affective reactions of prospective funders. Moreover, we find the indirect effect of product creativity is contingent upon the extent to which funders perceive an entrepreneur to be passionate, such that perceived entrepreneurial passion increases the positive nature of the indirect effect. Implications for future theory development, empirical research and implications for practitioners are discussed as well.
•Funders’ perceptions of product creativity and entrepreneurial passion are examined.•Resource allocation decisions are positively influenced by perceived product creativity.•The influence of perceived product creativity is partially mediated by funders’ positive affective reactions.•Perceived product creativity’s indirect influence is heightened when funders perceive the lead entrepreneur as passionate.
Family ties are an important conduit of resources for entrepreneurs, but both positive and negative outcomes can arise. Building upon a family embeddedness perspective, we develop hypotheses about ...curvilinear relationships between the proportion of family ties in entrepreneurs’ networks and venture growth. We test them on entrepreneurs from China, France, Russia, and the United States. These effects appear to be related to the type of entrepreneurs’ social network (business advice, emotional support, and business resources). Our results confirm effects specific to each network: an inverted U–shape for advice and emotional support networks but a U–shape for the business resource network, measuring what proportion of kin in each entrepreneurial network type is valuable to or, conversely, undermines new venture growth.
The entrepreneurial process drives economic activities in the formal economy; however, little is known theoretically about how the entrepreneurial process works in the informal economy. To address ...this theoretical gap, we employ a multilevel perspective integrating entrepreneurship theory (microlevel) with institutional (macrolevel) and collective identity (mesolevel) theories to examine the role institutions and collective identity play in the recognition and exploitation of opportunities in the informal economy. Additionally, we explore factors that influence the transition to the formal economy.
Firms differ in the extent to which they scan their environments, which ultimately affects their performance. Although upper echelons theory suggests that top executives’ individual-level attributes ...affect firm strategy and performance, our understanding of how these attributes affect firms’ environmental scanning remains weak. Advancing knowledge in this area is important because such scanning is a key first step in strategic decision making. We theorize that top executives’ goal orientations (i.e., inherent motivations that shape what individuals generally seek to accomplish when engaging in challenging tasks) affect their firms’ environmental scanning. Specifically, firms whose top executives exhibit higher learning goal orientations (i.e., they seek knowledge in an effort to improve) or higher performance prove goal orientations (i.e., they seek to demonstrate their competence to others) might engage in more environmental scanning than firms whose top executives have higher performance avoid goal orientations (i.e., they seek to avoid demonstrating incompetence). We also theorize that these relationships differ between founders (who have more status and influence in their firms) and nonfounders (who are under more pressure from owners). As firm environmental scanning is found to relate positively to firm performance, understanding how top executives shape this activity has important theoretical and practical implications. This study contributes to the growing stream of upper echelons research that examines top executives’ personality and cognitive, as opposed to demographic, characteristics. It also enriches understanding of the situational nature of goal orientations’ effects, which differ according to top executives’ status as founder or nonfounder.
Strategic supply chains serve as a potential source of competitive advantage for firms. The ability of a strategy supply chain to engender cultural competitiveness, or joint entrepreneurship and ...learning aimed at filling market gaps, is a key path through which a strategic supply chain may become a competitive advantage. A balance of trust and power within the supply chain offsets uncertainty and risks associated with the behaviors underlying cultural competitiveness. Using a multi-theoretic perspective, we discuss four strategies that firms use to balance a climate of trust and power in a strategic supply chain. Identifying an authority, generating a common supply chain identity, utilizing boundary spanning ties, and providing procedural and interactive justice are the strategies we discuss.
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