http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/11762/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/23503/ 2012-04-01T00:00:00Z In the media role models are increasingly being acknowledged as an influential factor in explaining the reasons for the choice of occupation and career. Various conceptual studies have proposed links between role models and entrepreneurial intentions. However, empirical research aimed at establishing the importance of role models for (nascent) entrepreneurs is scarce. Knowledge of the presence of entrepreneurial role models, their specific functions and characteristics is therefore limited. Our explorative empirical study is a first step towards filling this gap. Our study is based on the outcomes of a questionnaire completed by a representative sample of 292 entrepreneurs in three major Dutch cities – entrepreneurs who have recently started up a business in the retail, hotel and restaurant sectors, business services and other services. We provide indications of the presence and importance of entrepreneurial role models, the function of these role models, the similarity between the entrepreneur and the role model, and the strength of their relationship. Highlights ► Role models emerge as influential factors in individual decision making. ► However, empirical knowledge of entrepreneurial role models is limited. ► We explore impacts, functions and characteristics of entrepreneurial role models. ► We find that role models often influence others in their decision to start a firm. ► Role models tend to be next-door examples and fulfill several functions. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/31311/ 2011-11-10T00:00:00Z The job satisfaction of self-employed and paid-employed workers is analyzed using the European Community Household Panel for the EU-15 covering the years 1994-2001. We distinguish between two types of job satisfaction: job satisfaction in terms of type of work and job satisfaction in terms of job security. Findings from our generalized ordered logit regressions indicate that self-employed individuals as compared to paid employees are more likely to be satisfied with their present jobs in terms of type of work and less likely to be satisfied in terms of job security. The findings also provide many insights into the determinants of the two types of job satisfaction for both self-employed and paid-employed workers. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/23945/ 2011-08-01T00:00:00Z This paper investigates whether and how a recent entrepreneurial exit relates to subsequent engagement. We discriminate between six levels of engagement including none, potential, intentional, nascent, young and established entrepreneurship. We use individual-level data for 24 countries that participated in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor during 2004, 2005 and 2006 (some 350,000 observations). Our findings indeed show that a recent exit decreases the probability of undertaking no entrepreneurial activity, whereas it substantially increases the probabilities of being involved in all other engagement levels. Investigating the conditions under which an exit increases engagement in entrepreneurial activities, we find that the probability of entrepreneurial engagement after exit is higher for males, for persons who know an entrepreneur and for persons with a low fear of failure. Educational attainment does not seem to be relevant. Moreover, there exists large cross-country variation in the probability of entrepreneurial engagement after exit. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22907/ 2011-04-01T00:00:00Z In the media role models are increasingly being acknowledged as an influential factor in explaining the reasons for the choice of occupation and career. Various conceptual studies have proposed links between role models and entrepreneurial intentions. However, empirical research aimed at establishing the importance of role models for (nascent) entrepreneurs is scarce. Knowledge of the presence of entrepreneurial role models, their specific functions and characteristics is therefore limited. Our explorative empirical study is a first step towards filling this gap. Our study is based on the outcomes of a questionnaire completed by a representative sample of 292 entrepreneurs in three major Dutch cities - entrepreneurs who have recently started up a business in the retail, hotel and restaurant sectors, business services and other services. We provide indications of the presence and importance of entrepreneurial role models, the function of these role models, the similarity between the entrepreneur and the role model, and the strength of their relationship. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/22556/ 2011-02-01T00:00:00Z Job satisfaction of self-employed and paid-employed workers is analyzed using the European Community Household Panel for the EU-15 covering the years 1994-2001. We distinguish between two types of job satisfaction, i.e. job satisfaction in terms of type of work and job satisfaction in terms of job security. Findings from our generalized ordered logit regressions indicate that self-employed individuals as compared to paid employees are more likely to be satisfied with their present jobs in terms of type of work and less likely to be satisfied in terms of job security. The findings also provide many insights into the determinants of the two types of job satisfaction for both the self-employed and paid employees http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/31316/ 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z This article develops and tests resource dependency and institutional theory arguments to explain two choices facing SME owner/managers: (1) the decision whether to export or not and (2) if the firm exports, the choice between a direct (to customers abroad) and an indirect (using another firm as intermediary) export mode. Binomial logistic regressions on our sample of 871 Dutch SMEs suggest that institutional theory perspectives (owner/managers' perception of the increased international presence of their domestic competitors, customers' and suppliers' and perceptions of increased use of foreign suppliers) explain the decision to export, while resource dependency theory arguments (owner/managers' perception of the favorability of access to knowledge and technology, of production costs and of access to capital in the home market) guide the choice between direct and indirect export modes. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/21916/ 2009-09-01T00:00:00Z In this paper the relationship between a country’s prevalence of new ventures and its rate of economic growth is investigated, while taking into account new ventures’ export orientation. It is generally acknowledged that new venture creation as well as export activity may both be important strategies for achieving national economic growth. However, to our knowledge no attempt has been made to investigate empirically the role of export-driven new ventures in economic growth. We focus on the national level and use data for a sample of 34 countries over the period 2002–2008. Our results suggest that, on top of a positive relation between entrepreneurial activity in general and subsequent macroeconomic growth, there is an additional positive effect of export-oriented early-stage entrepreneurship in higher-income countries. However, there is no such additional effect in lower-income countries. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/17651/ 2009-07-01T00:00:00Z This paper explores differences in the proportion of export-oriented early-stage entrepreneurial activity in 12 Asian countries. Drawing on varieties of capitalism theory, we find that Asian countries with high quality institutions are more likely to have higher proportions of young export-oriented firms. However, analysis on a 51 country data set indicates that Asian countries have significantly fewer young export-oriented firms than do non-Asian countries. Furthermore, the multi-country study reveals that countries with higher proportions of export-oriented entrepreneurial activity tend to have flexible industrial relations, high quality vocational training, and confrontational labor-employer relations, however the proportion of export-oriented new ventures is not related to the quality of corporate governance and inter-firm relations. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/14340/ 2008-12-01T00:00:00Z This paper investigates whether various start-up motivations and a country's level of social security can explain the prevalence of entrepreneurial aspirations. For entrepreneurial aspirations and motivations we use country-level data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for the year 2005. We distinguish between the necessity motive, independence motive and increase wealth motive and between aspirations in terms of innovativeness, job growth and export orientation. Our findings indicate that social security negatively affects a country's supply of ambitious entrepreneurship. Our results also suggest that entrepreneurial aspirations in terms of job growth and export relate positively to the increase wealth motive. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13942/ 2008-11-13T00:00:00Z This book investigates antecedents and outcomes of international entrepreneurship. International entrepreneurship as a field of research involves both research into entrepreneurship in multiple countries (cross-country comparisons of the nature and extent of entrepreneurial activity) and research into cross-border entrepreneurship (international activity of small and medium-sized enterprises and new ventures). Entrepreneurship is considered to be an important mechanism for national economic development e.g. through the generation of innovations and employment. However, considerable differences exist between countries in the extent to which entrepreneurship is innovation- or growth-oriented and consequently in the extent to which entrepreneurship contributes positively to national economic development. Therefore, it is essential for scientists, policy makers and entrepreneurs, to gain insight into the factors that affect the emergence of (various types of) entrepreneurship and into the economic outcomes of (various types of) entrepreneurship. This book is devoted to examining such issues, with a specific focus on cross-border entrepreneurship. The chapters included in this book address various research themes, such as the relationship between international trade and innovation, the extent to which foreign direct investment and international trade are sources of knowledge spillovers, the role of cross-border entrepreneurship in economic growth and the impact of social welfare schemes on entrepreneurship. In investigating these issues both micro-economic and macro-economic analyses are used. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/14709/ 2008-10-01T00:00:00Z We draw on the knowledge spillover literature to suggest that a country's proportion of export-oriented new ventures represents an outcome of knowledge spillovers that stem from foreign direct investment (FDI) and international trade (export spillovers) as well as a source of knowledge spillovers (entrepreneurship spillovers). To test the hypotheses, we use macrolevel data from 34 countries during the period 2002-2005. We find that the relationship between FDI and international trade on the one hand and a country's proportion of export-oriented new ventures on the other differs for higher- and lower-income countries. In addition, a country's proportion of export-oriented new ventures affects the subsequent emergence of new businesses. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/14721/ 2008-10-01T00:00:00Z Several drivers of entrepreneurial aspirations and entrepreneurial motivations are investigated using country-level data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) for the years 2005 and 2006. We estimate a two-equation model explaining aspirations using motivations and socioeconomic variables, and explaining motivations using socioeconomic variables. We find that countries with a higher incidence of increase-wealth-motivated entrepreneurs tend to have a higher prevalence of high-job-growth and export-oriented entrepreneurship and that a country's level of social security relates negatively to the prevalence of innovative, high-job-growth, and export-oriented entrepreneurship. We also find that the increase-wealth motive mediates the relationship between socioeconomic variables and entrepreneurial aspirations. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/14722/ 2008-10-01T00:00:00Z This paper is an introduction to the special issue from the 3rd Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Research Conference held in Washington, D.C., in 2008. The paper has three objectives. First, to discuss the importance of the three stages of economic development, the factor-driven stage, the efficiency-driven stage and the innovation-driven stage. Second, to examine the empirical evidence on the relationship between stages of economic development and entrepreneurship. Third, to present a summary of the papers in the context of the theory. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/13220/ 2008-08-05T00:00:00Z In this contribution we develop a theoretical framework derived from the national system of innovation literature and the subsequent criticisms voiced by regional scientists and industry/technology experts who emphasize the importance of the intermediate subnational and sectoral levels to analysing science- and technology-based regional entrepreneurship in the Netherlands. The national system of innovation of the Netherlands, and its specifics and peculiarities, and the country’s general entrepreneurship policy, and the most important policy and support initiatives are subsequently discussed. Based on a desire to overcome the knowledge paradox between fundamental research and market needs and on the recognition that the Netherlands lags behind other countries when it comes to innovative entrepreneurship, various changes and initiatives were recently introduced in the Netherlands. The impression is of an overambitious national government with numerous programmes, schemes and agencies involved, sometimes working with each other but at other times separately as well, and its effectiveness can be questioned. Serious paperwork and preparation is involved in the participation in most programes and, together with the complexity of these programmes and policies, small and young entrepreneurs are neither informed, ready or well-equipped; some of them are not even interested in participating in those schemes. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10178/ 2007-06-08T00:00:00Z We draw on knowledge spillover literature to suggest that a country’s level of foreign direct investment (FDI) and international trade may influence the export orientation of its entrepreneurs, which in turn may relate to the country’s total level of entrepreneurial activity. Macro-level data from 34 countries during 2002–2005 indicate that a country’s outward FDI, export, and import positively affect entrepreneurs’ export orientation, but these effects differ in how fast they manifest themselves. Furthermore, the extent to which a country’s entrepreneurs engage in export-oriented activities affects the subsequent emergence of new businesses. These findings have important implications for research and practice. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/8583/ 2007-01-26T00:00:00Z While it is generally acknowledged that entrepreneurship as well as export activity may both be important strategies for achieving national economic growth, it has remained unclear how export activity among new ventures is related to economic growth. This paper investigates whether the presence of export-oriented entrepreneurs is a more important determinant of economic growth than entrepreneurial activity in general. We focus on the national or macro-level and use data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor for a sample of 36 countries. An important advantage of using the macro-level is that indirect effects of exporting entrepreneurs that reach further than the performance of these firms themselves (e.g. spillovers) are captured in the analysis. To our knowledge, no attempt has been made thus far to link international activity of early-stage ventures to macro-economic out-comes. Our results suggest that export-oriented entrepreneurship is indeed more important for achieving high economic growth rates than entrepreneurial activity in general. This suggests that international activity by small and new firms strongly contributes to higher levels of competition and, consequently, to the emergence of highly dynamic economies and higher levels of economic growth.